Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.37.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $201.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $195.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $123.41 and a 52 week high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 18.91 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.82, for a total value of $2,289,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 185,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,470,003.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Founders Capital Management grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 404.0% during the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.