Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Short Interest Update

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,160,000 shares, a drop of 6.4% from the March 15th total of 5,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FANG. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $250.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $222.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.95.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG stock traded down $2.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $201.51. 403,421 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,753,015. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $187.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.74. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $211.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.93.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 18.71 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a $3.08 dividend. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total transaction of $514,536.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total transaction of $514,536.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 in the last 90 days. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FANG. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 60.2% during the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth about $254,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 27.1% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,260 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 25.8% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,730 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 31,037 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,151,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. 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.