Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives "Hold (C-)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Diamondback Energy has been given a "Hold (C-)" rating by Weiss Ratings, while Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo have upgraded their price targets for the stock.
• The company's quarterly earnings report showed a EPS of $2.67, slightly missing analysts' expectations, but revenue was significantly higher than anticipated at $3.68 billion.
• Insider trading activity revealed that Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares, reducing his ownership in the company by 16.65%.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c-)" rating reaffirmed by Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on FANG. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $176.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $188.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $192.55.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $149.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,396,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,722. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $43.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.04. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $197.68.

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

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $230,039,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $144,775,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $77,622,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 27.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $311,792,000 after purchasing an additional 418,431 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 388,512 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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