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

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $187.8571.

A number of equities analysts have commented on FANG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $169.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, January 19th.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total transaction of $9,764,677.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 982,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,220,806.72. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock valued at $225,026,921. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $174.08 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $158.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.73. The company has a market cap of $49.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $114.00 and a twelve month high of $177.25.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The business’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.30%.

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.