Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at KeyCorp

Equities research analysts at KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $225.00 price target on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.39% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on FANG. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $154.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.35.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $200.19 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $125.73 and a fifty-two week high of $211.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $196.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $35.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.90.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 19.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total transaction of $1,182,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,736,123.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total transaction of $1,182,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,362,750. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.5% in the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,612 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 20.8% during the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 424 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 859 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.