Diamondback Energy’s (FANG) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank Of Canada

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $240.00 target price on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.41% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $259.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Capital One Financial upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $272.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.71.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock traded down $3.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $194.47. 1,164,226 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,631,973. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $137.03 and a 52-week high of $216.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $196.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96 and a beta of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,617,411.36. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Travis D. Stice sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total value of $15,323,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 49,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,159,723.37. This represents a 60.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 141,666 shares of company stock valued at $28,061,456 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $3,303,362,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $852,791,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,420,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,886,351,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918,943 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $268,855,000. Finally, EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $169,342,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.