Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 2,388 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,522 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,388 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LBRT. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the third quarter valued at $619,000. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 77,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 22,090 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 94,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 15,810 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $454,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LBRT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Liberty Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Liberty Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup downgraded Liberty Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.89.

Insider Transactions at Liberty Energy

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total transaction of $398,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,678,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,335,166.83. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 750,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,011,642.07. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 99,037 shares of company stock valued at $1,911,802. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

NYSE LBRT opened at $17.36 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.57 and a 1 year high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Liberty Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.33%.

Liberty Energy Company 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.