Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Sees Large Volume Increase

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 1,268,688 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the previous session’s volume of 1,548,068 shares.The stock last traded at $178.96 and had previously closed at $181.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $154.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.71.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.51% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $2.34 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381,488 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,844,000 after buying an additional 1,916,900 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $87,940,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $603,038,000 after buying an additional 415,902 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 280.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $109,144,000 after acquiring an additional 402,026 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.