Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives $224.05 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $224.05.

Several research firms have commented on FANG. Barclays cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $248.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $246.00 to $243.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $204.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.40 billion, a PE ratio of 39.96 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $134.30 and a 1-year high of $216.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $197.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.88.

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

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 85.77%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Charles Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 17,811.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,857,575 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $6,830,385,000 after purchasing an additional 38,640,635 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,303,362,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $852,791,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,420,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,886,351,000 after buying an additional 3,918,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $268,855,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.