Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives $195.95 Average Price Target from Analysts

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $202.53.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FANG. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total value of $1,153,020.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,218 shares in the company, valued at $15,031,153.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $257,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $928,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 243.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,363 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,999,000 after acquiring an additional 13,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $2,214,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $207.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $123.41 and a fifty-two week high of $211.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.13.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.29 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $3.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.95%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.76%.

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.