Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $232.37.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FANG. Citigroup reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Diamondback Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total value of $6,124,605.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,617,411.36. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Travis D. Stice sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total transaction of $15,323,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at $10,159,723.37. This represents a 60.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 141,666 shares of company stock valued at $28,061,456 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter worth $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter worth $32,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $195.11 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $137.03 and a 12-month high of $216.90. The company has a market capitalization of $54.64 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $196.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.21.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 20.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.77%.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas. The company focuses primarily on the acquisition, development, exploration and production of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

Diamondback’s operations are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins, where it develops properties using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Its production includes crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.