Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Now Covered by William Blair

Key Points

• William Blair has initiated coverage of Diamondback Energy, assigning the stock an "outperform" rating, indicating a positive outlook for the company.
• Diamondback Energy's shares saw a price objective increase from $210.00 to $211.00 by Wells Fargo & Company, who also rated the stock as "overweight".
• The stock displays a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average target price of $193.33, while institutional investors own approximately 90.01% of the shares.

Equities research analysts at William Blair began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating on the oil and natural gas company's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Melius began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $213.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $193.33.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $143.28 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $142.79 and its 200-day moving average is $143.54. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $200.47. 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 company has a market cap of $41.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares in the company, valued at $14,586,306. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,325,287 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $3,204,894,000 after buying an additional 388,512 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,569,990 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $766,914,000 after buying an additional 151,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,441,649 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $746,526,000 after buying an additional 142,649 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 9.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,642,218 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $637,841,000 after buying an additional 384,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 5.3% in the first quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102,785 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $655,953,000 after buying an additional 208,200 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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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