Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $195.00 Price Target at Benchmark

by · The Markets Daily

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Free Report) had its price objective upped by Benchmark from $154.00 to $195.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on FANG. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Johnson Rice cut Diamondback Energy from a strong-buy rating to a moderate buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $237.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $230.00 to $219.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $209.50.

Read Our Latest Research Report on FANG

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $194.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $187.40 and a 200 day moving average of $195.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $143.08 and a twelve month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 18.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $2.34 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 5.8% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 9,746 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 38,166 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 107.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 40,701 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,017,000 after acquiring an additional 21,055 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Diamondback Energy

(Get Free Report)

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.

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