Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $204.37.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG traded up $3.87 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $201.50. 1,873,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,530,138. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.58. The company has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $123.41 and a 52-week high of $211.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 18.96 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.82, for a total value of $2,289,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 185,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,470,003.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Founders Capital Management lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 404.0% during the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

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.