Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Trading Up 4.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) shares traded up 4.5% on Thursday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $238.00 to $242.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Diamondback Energy traded as high as $137.11 and last traded at $136.02. 392,991 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,066,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.22.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FANG. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,215,000. Fulcrum Equity Management bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 2,027 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,935,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $138,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $147.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.93.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.32%.

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.