Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $210.29.

A number of research firms recently commented on FANG. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $119.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.52 billion, a PE ratio of 6.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $117.03 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.64.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FANG. Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $638,050,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $298,327,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $185,193,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1,153.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,132,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $185,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,505 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,496,859,000 after acquiring an additional 928,429 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.