Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Upgraded by Barclays to Overweight

Barclays upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has $210.00 target price on the oil and natural gas company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $216.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $205.82.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of FANG opened at $181.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $143.08 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.25.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 18.97 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Founders Capital Management grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 404.0% during the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.