Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Plans $0.07 Quarterly Dividend
Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT – Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of 0.07 per share on Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th.
Liberty Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 63.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Liberty Energy has a payout ratio of 8.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Liberty Energy to earn $3.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.2%.
Liberty Energy Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:LBRT traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.11. 4,557,304 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,968,351. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.85. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $11.62 and a 52 week high of $23.31. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.65.
Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 32.28% and a net margin of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,780,725.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total transaction of $453,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares in the company, valued at $64,780,725.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,459 shares of company stock worth $2,077,491. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Liberty Energy
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 24.7% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 13,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 129.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,089,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,971,000 after buying an additional 1,178,716 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 775.0% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 219,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 194,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 106.8% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 49,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 25,424 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
LBRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Liberty Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.67.
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About Liberty Energy
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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.
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