Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a peer perform rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on FANG. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America reissued a neutral rating and set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, June 14th. KeyCorp started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an overweight rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $154.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $208.95.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of FANG stock opened at $205.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $36.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.90. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $139.45 and a one year high of $214.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $197.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.10 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total value of $1,182,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,717 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,633 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,852,000 after buying an additional 6,240 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 7,102 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 748.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,221 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 13,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 613.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.