Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

FANG has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.37.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock traded up $3.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $201.50. 1,873,837 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,530,138. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $123.41 and a 1-year high of $211.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.99 and a 200 day moving average of $170.58. The company has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 18.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. 0.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FANG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 39.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $465,817,000 after purchasing an additional 858,446 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $128,720,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 143.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 981,284 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $152,177,000 after acquiring an additional 577,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 286.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 595,694 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $92,380,000 after purchasing an additional 441,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.