Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday,Zacks.com reports.

FANG has been the subject of several other research reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.37.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $187.80 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $134.30 and a 52-week high of $214.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.83 billion, a PE ratio of 218.37 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $195.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.02.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 19.92 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 511.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 851,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,338,293.60. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,640,370.50. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 121,548 shares of company stock valued at $23,146,460 in the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,733,538 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $821,649,000 after purchasing an additional 163,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,621,120 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $844,073,000 after buying an additional 14,625 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,159,365 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $775,607,000 after buying an additional 532,756 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,332,885 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $651,363,000 after buying an additional 534,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,828,941 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $575,605,000 after buying an additional 117,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.