Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $175.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Diamondback Energy traded as low as $114.00 and last traded at $134.93, with a volume of 5368860 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.25.

FANG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.9% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 4,468 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 8.6% during the first quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 26,121 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $199,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 22,574 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,609,000 after buying an additional 5,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 4.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $37.94 billion, a PE ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.28.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

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.