Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given “Outperform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $210.00 price objective on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on FANG. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $181.88 on Wednesday. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.33.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 17.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 38.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381,488 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $603,038,000 after purchasing an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,844,000 after buying an additional 1,916,900 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $538,547,000 after purchasing an additional 247,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,473,831 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $495,236,000 after purchasing an additional 164,732 shares during the last quarter. 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.