Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $218.6842.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total value of $1,406,300.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 85,755 shares in the company, valued at $17,228,179.50. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total value of $1,002,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,303,451.68. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $2,301,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 13.5% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,104 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,022,000 after acquiring an additional 6,069 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.5% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 52,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 37.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 154,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $21,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,866 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.6%

FANG opened at $203.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $134.30 and a 12 month high of $214.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 236.07 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.04.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 18.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.