Petrus Trust Company LTA Takes Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired 2,396 shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. valued at approximately $383,000 in the first quarter.
• Diamondback Energy reported a quarterly earnings miss with $2.67 EPS, below the consensus estimate of $2.72, despite a 48.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.68 billion.
• Diamondback Energy declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.9%, with a dividend payout ratio of 28.43%.

Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,396 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 776 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 6,805 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 67,484 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $11,063,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 6,276 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman owned 102,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FANG. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $188.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $213.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.17.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG traded up $3.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.64. 2,004,632 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,630,627. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $200.47. The company's fifty day moving average price is $142.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.14.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.05). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.52 EPS. The company's revenue was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is presently 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.