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

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $240.00 price target on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 22.70% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on FANG. Stephens restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday. Capital One Financial upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $272.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $259.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $211.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.71.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.0%

FANG stock traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $195.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,192,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,637,553. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $196.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.15. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $137.03 and a 12 month high of $216.90. The company has a market capitalization of $54.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total transaction of $6,124,605.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at $139,617,411.36. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Travis Stice sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 141,666 shares of company stock valued at $28,061,456. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 11.2% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 16,288 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,994,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 126.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 626,847 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $115,221,000 after buying an additional 349,801 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,367 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.