Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives $186.95 Consensus PT from Analysts

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $188.7619.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FANG. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy to $188.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Melius Research started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $213.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $178.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the sale, the director owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. The trade was a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC now owns 5,090 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,858 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,614,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $156.68 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $147.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $180.91. The stock has a market cap of $44.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.63.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.14. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 27.32%.The business had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 27.80%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.