Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.27 EPS

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.27, Briefing.com reports. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $201.13 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $123.41 and a 52-week high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America raised Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $129.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.53.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. Corporate insiders own 0.43% 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.