Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Research Coverage Started at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating and a $259.00 target price on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

FANG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Roth Capital set a $212.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.05.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $204.97 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $134.30 and a one year high of $216.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $197.79 and a 200 day moving average of $192.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $57.40 billion, a PE ratio of 39.96 and a beta of 0.43.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 19.94 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.41, for a total transaction of $6,613,600.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 818,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,338,466.77. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FANG. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 264.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth about $40,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The company’s operations are concentrated primarily in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include drilling and completing horizontal wells, operating gathering and infrastructure assets, and managing mineral and royalty interests through its Viper Energy platform.