Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Short Interest Up 23.6% in November

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,390,000 shares, an increase of 23.6% from the October 31st total of 5,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This represents a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 99.2% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on FANG. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $177.59 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $181.95 and a 200-day moving average of $189.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $145.70 and a twelve month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 16.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

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.