Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Raised to “Outperform” at BMO Capital Markets

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $215.00 price objective on the oil and natural gas company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $205.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.18% from the stock’s previous close.

FANG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $230.00 to $219.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.50.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 3.9 %

FANG opened at $188.30 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $143.08 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a current ratio of 3.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $187.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.51% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 18.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 83,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $12,952,000 after purchasing an additional 9,034 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 180.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 30,193 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,682,000 after acquiring an additional 19,434 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 48,460 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,515,000 after acquiring an additional 18,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 61,507 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $9,539,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.