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 report report published on Thursday.

FANG has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $224.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an equal weight rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued an outperform rating and a $243.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $209.35.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of FANG opened at $200.19 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $125.73 and a fifty-two week high of $211.96. The firm has a market cap of $35.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $196.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 19.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total transaction of $1,182,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,362,750 in the last three months. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 8,641 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth $1,383,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth $210,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 235.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,916,900 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 345.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,963 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,767,000 after purchasing an additional 10,827 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Diamondback Energy

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.