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

Key Points

• Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from twenty-three analysts, with an average target price of $193.39 for the next 12 months.
• Insider activity includes Chairman Travis D. Stice selling 20,400 shares at an average price of $142.80, resulting in a total transaction value of $2.91 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00, with a dividend yield of 2.7% and a payout ratio of 28.43%.

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $193.3913.

A number of brokerages have commented on FANG. William Blair began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, August 25th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Melius Research initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $213.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FANG. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 66,346 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $10,869,000 after acquiring an additional 2,468 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 412.1% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,799 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 6,276 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,682,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,964 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $145.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $142.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 1.14. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $200.47.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 27.25%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

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.

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