Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Diamondback Energy holds a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 25 analysts: 16 recommend buying, four strongly recommend buying, and five rate the stock a hold. The average 12-month price target is $224.05, above the recent $205.39 share price.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $6.48 in EPS versus the $6.08 consensus and $5.56 billion in revenue versus $4.89 billion expected. Revenue rose 51.2% year over year.
• Institutional investors own approximately 90.01% of Diamondback Energy, while a director sold 33,333 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, equivalent to a 2.1% annual yield.

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five 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 target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $224.05.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FANG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $206.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $248.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 150,826 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $26,512,000 after buying an additional 4,686 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,686 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 43.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,812 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,689 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $9,262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $205.39 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $134.30 and a 12-month high of $216.90. The company has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.04 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $197.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.66.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 20.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 85.77%.

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.

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