Brokerages Set Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) PT at $216.09

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $211.92.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $150.20 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $162.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.85. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $137.09 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 11,340 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,852 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,380 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,795 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 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.