Liberty Energy Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.07 (NYSE:LBRT)

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Zacks reports. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th.

Liberty Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 63.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Liberty Energy has a payout ratio of 8.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of LBRT opened at $21.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.85. Liberty Energy has a twelve month low of $11.62 and a twelve month high of $23.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.63.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 32.28%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Liberty Energy’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on LBRT shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 increased their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In related news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,479,865. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Liberty Energy news, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 218,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,479,865. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 181.5% during the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 8,085,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,574,000 after buying an additional 5,213,132 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 38.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,136,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,621,253 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 20.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,972,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,183 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $36,326,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,528,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

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.