Citigroup Cuts Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $157.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target decreased by Citigroup from $195.00 to $157.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

FANG has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.33.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

FANG stock opened at $153.03 on Monday. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $137.09 and a one year high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $161.67 and a 200-day moving average of $171.22.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 25.32%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 940.0% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. 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.