Homestead Advisers Corp Boosts Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Homestead Advisers Corp grew its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 453,600 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,300 shares during the period. Diamondback Energy makes up 1.8% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $74,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 276 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.92.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $163.09 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.09 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $47.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.95.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 25.32%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% 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.