Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $193.35.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 120,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 36,177 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $5,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 6.3% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,853 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $9,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,467 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 20,388 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 50.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,149 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 9,816 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $144.33 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $114.00 and a one year high of $214.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.09 and a 200-day moving average of $149.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $42.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 30.84% and a return on equity of 11.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 24.46%.

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.