Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Outperform by Royal Bank Of Canada

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $240.00 price target on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.51% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on FANG. Susquehanna raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stephens reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $205.00) on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.50.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ FANG traded down $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $197.51. 2,808,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,639,804. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $137.03 and a twelve month high of $216.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $196.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.50 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Travis Stice sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total value of $15,323,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at $10,159,723.37. The trade was a 60.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total value of $6,124,605.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 759,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $139,617,411.36. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 141,666 shares of company stock worth $28,061,456 over the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter worth about $41,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas. The company focuses primarily on the acquisition, development, exploration and production of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

Diamondback’s operations are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins, where it develops properties using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Its production includes crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.