Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $209.33.

FANG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Williams Trading set a $190.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wolfe Research raised Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG stock opened at $141.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $137.09 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 368.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,784 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 7,694 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 162.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 52,974 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $9,130,000 after purchasing an additional 32,803 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.2% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 8,841 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 17.7% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,042 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,834,000 after buying an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.