Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 409,234 Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 409,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 604.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 176.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth $99,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.80.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

LBRT stock opened at $9.97 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.71 and a 12 month high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. On average, analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.11%.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,868,218.48. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Liberty Energy

Liberty Energy Inc provides hydraulic services and related technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration, and production companies in North America. The company offers hydraulic fracturing services, including complementary services, such as wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, field gas processing and treating, compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery, data analytics, related goods comprising sand mine operations, and technologies; and well site fueling and logistics.