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

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and five have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $221.3684.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 851,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total transaction of $1,000,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,392 shares in the company, valued at $10,283,539.20. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 121,548 shares of company stock valued at $23,146,460. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $179.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $134.30 and a 12-month high of $214.51. The company has a market cap of $50.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 209.20 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $194.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 511.63%.

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.