Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Reduces Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC trimmed its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 78.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,659 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,446 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $53,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $498,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 897,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,842,000 after purchasing an additional 24,825 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,792,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 197.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 286,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,471,000 after buying an additional 190,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 315.8% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 133,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,649,000 after buying an additional 101,144 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 5.1%

Liberty Energy stock opened at $12.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.74. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $9.50 and a one year high of $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. The firm had revenue of $977.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LBRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.05.

Liberty Energy Profile

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.