Benchmark Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $195.00 price target on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays raised Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.09.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $175.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.06. 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 12-month low of $145.70 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $2.34 dividend. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 18.60%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 99.2% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.