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

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $223.2632.

FANG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total value of $1,406,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 85,755 shares in the company, valued at $17,228,179.50. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $1,130,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,561.40. This represents a 57.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,464 shares of company stock valued at $14,946,406. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Diamondback Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Diamondback Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research and KeyCorp both lifted several near- and longer-term earnings estimates for Diamondback Energy, suggesting analysts still see solid profit potential ahead. Zacks also reiterated a Hold rating, while KeyCorp kept an Overweight rating and a $225 price target.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks described Diamondback Energy as a strong momentum stock, which may reinforce bullish sentiment around the name. Zacks momentum stock article
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted that Diamondback Energy has been trading near highs, but the focus was on market activity rather than a direct company-specific catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Financial Post reported that the daughter of late wildcatter Autry Stephens is offloading a $2 billion energy stake, including a Diamondback Energy position. Large insider- or major-holder selling can weigh on sentiment because investors may view it as profit-taking after a strong run. Stephens family stake sale in Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $192.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $54.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 223.98 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $134.30 and a 52 week high of $214.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.91.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.