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

Key Points

• Diamondback Energy has a consensus analyst rating of “Buy” from 25 research firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $221.37.
• The company recently beat first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.23 EPS versus $3.74 expected and $4.24 billion in revenue versus $3.83 billion expected.
• Diamondback also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share, up from $1.05, though the company has seen recent insider selling and strong institutional ownership remains at 90.01%.

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and five have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $221.3684.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $249.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total value of $1,406,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 85,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,228,179.50. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 851,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,338,293.60. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 121,548 shares of company stock valued at $23,146,460 over the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $970,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 500.9% during the first quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 12,985 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 10,824 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,945 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $3,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 6,944 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth $370,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $179.91 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $134.30 and a 12 month high of $214.51. The firm has a market cap of $50.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 209.20 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $194.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is presently 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.

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