Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $259.00 price target on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 27.50% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on FANG. Susquehanna upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research cut Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.05.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG traded up $0.50 on Thursday, reaching $203.13. 86,389 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,546,266. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $134.30 and a twelve month high of $216.90. The stock has a market cap of $56.88 billion, a PE ratio of 39.55 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $196.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.45.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 20.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.41, for a total transaction of $6,613,600.53. Following the sale, the director owned 818,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,338,466.77. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 21.0% in the second quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 294 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The company’s operations are concentrated primarily in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include drilling and completing horizontal wells, operating gathering and infrastructure assets, and managing mineral and royalty interests through its Viper Energy platform.