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

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $208.59.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FANG shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $230.00 to $219.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG stock opened at $194.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $145.70 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 18.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,869,787 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,391,567,000 after buying an additional 176,208 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,706,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381,488 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 415,902 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in 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, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $538,547,000 after purchasing an additional 247,065 shares during the period. 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.