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

Key Points

• Diamondback Energy has an average analyst rating of “Buy” from 25 covering analysts, with a consensus 12-month price target of about $218.68. The group includes 17 buys, 4 strong buys, and 4 holds.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of $4.23 versus estimates of $3.74 and revenue of $4.24 billion versus expectations of $3.83 billion. Analysts currently expect full-year EPS of 18.9.
• Diamondback recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share, or $4.40 annualized, for a yield of 2.2%. However, the payout ratio is very high at 511.63%, and several insiders sold shares in recent months.

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the twenty-five analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $218.6842.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $242.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $246.00 to $243.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $249.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director owned 851,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 113,691 shares of company stock worth $21,622,752 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 139,308 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $20,942,000 after buying an additional 21,575 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,441,622 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $216,719,000 after purchasing an additional 56,194 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $5,472,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 338,577 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $50,890,000 after purchasing an additional 47,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QSM Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. QSM Asset Management Ltd now owns 61,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $9,170,000 after purchasing an additional 30,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $203.02 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $134.30 and a 1 year high of $214.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.11 billion, a PE ratio of 236.07 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.04.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 511.63%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.