Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Raised to $256.00 at Raymond James

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price lifted by Raymond James from $237.00 to $256.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays raised shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $176.63 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $170.46 and a 200-day moving average of $182.51. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $147.93 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The firm has a market cap of $51.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. Analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FANG. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 296 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 109.7% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 260 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.