Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $202.53.

A number of research analysts have commented on FANG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of FANG stock opened at $204.37 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $191.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $36.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.93. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $123.41 and a twelve month high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.29 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $3.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total value of $1,153,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,218 shares in the company, valued at $15,031,153.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total value of $1,153,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,031,153.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 over the last three months. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Founders Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 404.0% in the 1st quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.