Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $204.1429.

FANG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $178.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank upgraded Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $180.27 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $182.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $204.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13 and a beta of 0.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 74.87%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 4,101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.51, for a total transaction of $781,281.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,392 shares in the company, valued at $10,743,239.92. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $950,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 107,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,473,450. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,217,069 shares of company stock valued at $201,213,109. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 37.5% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter worth about $2,301,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 13.5% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,104 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,022,000 after purchasing an additional 6,069 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 8.5% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 52,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 37.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 154,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $21,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,866 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.