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

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $188.70.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FANG. Wall Street Zen downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Mizuho set a $194.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $162.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $152.34 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $43.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.91.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.32% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 27.80%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total transaction of $52,382,243.71. Following the sale, the director owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. This trade represents a 26.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC now owns 5,090 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.7% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.0% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viawealth LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 1,753 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.