Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $184.82 and last traded at $183.57, with a volume of 770480 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $180.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FANG. Mizuho lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Scotiabank set a $175.00 target price on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $161.25 and its 200-day moving average is $151.25. The firm has a market cap of $52.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24 and a beta of 0.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The business’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 74.87%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total transaction of $162,880,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at $16,074,094,093.76. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total value of $9,764,677.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 982,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,220,806.72. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 338,577 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $50,890,000 after purchasing an additional 47,450 shares during the last quarter. Tulsa Wealth Advisors INC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $973,000. Tobam boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 3,426.7% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 6,595 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 6,408 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, SG Trading Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub?basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.