Zacks Research Issues Positive Forecast for FANG Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research raised its Q4 2026 EPS estimate for Diamondback Energy to $2.49 (from $2.34) and provided higher near-term quarter estimates; the consensus full-year EPS is $16.90.
• Diamondback recently missed the prior quarter with EPS of $1.74 versus $2.00 expected and revenue down 9% year-over-year, yet several analysts have raised price targets and the consensus rating remains a Buy with an average target of $207.00.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.05 (annualized $4.20) for a ~2.3% yield, while insiders sold roughly 1.217 million shares (~$201 million) last quarter and institutional ownership stands at about 90%.

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q4 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the oil and natural gas company will post earnings of $2.49 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.34. The consensus estimate for Diamondback Energy's current full-year earnings is $16.90 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Diamondback Energy's Q3 2027 earnings at $3.11 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.53 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $3.40 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $14.23 EPS.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The firm's revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark downgraded Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG opened at $183.45 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.48. The company has a market capitalization of $51.61 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70 and a beta of 0.50. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $127.75 and a 1 year high of $204.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Balance Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $5,617,000. Triangle Securities Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 4,196 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth $202,000. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 4,101 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.51, for a total transaction of $781,281.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,743,239.92. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jere W. Thompson III sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.47, for a total value of $136,852.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,644,838.25. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,217,069 shares of company stock worth $201,213,109. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.87%.

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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