Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

FANG has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $246.00 to $243.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $248.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Roth Capital set a $212.00 target price on Diamondback Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.21.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on FANG

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $199.22 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $134.30 and a fifty-two week high of $216.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.00 and a 200 day moving average of $191.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $55.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.83 and a beta of 0.43.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 20.14 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.77%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.41, for a total value of $6,613,600.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 818,197 shares in the company, valued at $162,338,466.77. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 117,167 shares of company stock worth $22,305,309 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 264.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.

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