JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stake in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 23.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,876,443 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 355,576 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.16% of Liberty Energy worth $23,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Liberty Energy by 213.7% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 1,163.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 931.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 5,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 4,851 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $29.62 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.50 and a 12 month high of $32.40.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.21. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 1.24%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $880.59 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Liberty Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at $710,978.72. This trade represents a 54.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 343,150 shares in the company, valued at $8,716,010. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LBRT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Liberty Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.42.

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. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.