Diversified Energy Company PLC (NYSE:DEC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $22.50 According to Analysts

Diversified Energy Company PLC (NYSE:DEC) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DEC. Weiss Ratings raised Diversified Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Diversified Energy from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Diversified Energy from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research raised Diversified Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Diversified Energy from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday.

Diversified Energy Stock Up 2.9%

DEC stock opened at $14.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.60 and a beta of -0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. Diversified Energy has a one year low of $12.35 and a one year high of $18.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.58.

Diversified Energy (NYSE:DEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $442.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $492.98 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diversified Energy will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Diversified Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. Diversified Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diversified Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in Diversified Energy by 8.3% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 6,148,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,383,000 after purchasing an additional 470,823 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Diversified Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 617,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,978 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in Diversified Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $10,546,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Diversified Energy by 57.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 304,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,312,000 after purchasing an additional 111,625 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in Diversified Energy by 275.1% during the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 230,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 169,198 shares during the period. 26.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Diversified Energy

Diversified Energy Company plc is an independent energy company that owns and operates a portfolio of mature, producing oil and natural gas wells in the United States. The company focuses on acquiring long-life conventional assets and managing them through their full operating lifecycle, with activities spanning production, maintenance, infrastructure management and well retirement.

The company’s operations are concentrated in established U.S. onshore producing regions, including the Appalachian, Central and Rockies areas.