Cullen Investment Group LTD. Increases Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 20.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,970 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,229 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,418,840 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $861,961,000 after purchasing an additional 249,098 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,257,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $680,649,000 after purchasing an additional 94,177 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 5.3% during the first quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102,785 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $655,953,000 after purchasing an additional 208,200 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.1% during the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,932,484 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $468,846,000 after purchasing an additional 114,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 27.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $311,792,000 after purchasing an additional 418,431 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Melius began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $213.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $213.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $193.17.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $136.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $200.47.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 28.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 102,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.