Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Four 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.com, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.48.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $197.06 on Monday. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $199.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.13 and a beta of 0.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 74.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total transaction of $9,764,677.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 982,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,220,806.72. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,484 shares in the company, valued at $844,561.40. This trade represents a 57.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,209,212 shares of company stock worth $199,689,401 in the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 74.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,837 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $487,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,010 shares during the last quarter. EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $169,342,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter worth about $144,775,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 38.0% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,798,812 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $543,610,000 after buying an additional 1,046,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,198,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Diamondback Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Diamondback Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist initiated coverage with a Buy and a $222 price target, giving institutional validation and signaling ~double?digit upside from current levels; analyst initiation often supports higher near?term demand for shares. Diamondback Energy: Premier Permian…
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks noted that Diamondback outperformed the broader market on a day the market dipped — a sign that relative strength and investor preference for energy names is supporting the stock. Why the Market Dipped But Diamondback Energy (FANG) Gained Today
• Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwinds: coverage highlighting higher crude (near $100/bbl) boosts the outlook for Permian pure?plays like Diamondback, supporting revenue and free?cash?flow expectations. Energy?themed analyst pieces are lifting sentiment across peers. 3 Stocks Positioned to Gain From Ongoing Elevation in Crude Price
• Positive Sentiment: Media mentions/roundups (including Goldman Sachs/industry pick coverage) are increasing visibility for energy names; inclusion in positive analyst roundups can attract flows from funds tracking analyst momentum. Goldman Sachs Top Energy Picks Have Big Upside and Pay Solid Dividends
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest reports show anomalous/zero values and NaN changes across several updates — this appears to be a data/reporting issue. At face value the data imply no meaningful short pressure (no days?to?cover), but the figures are inconsistent and should be treated cautiously until exchanges/registrars confirm. (Multiple short?interest entries 3/23–3/24 — internal data feed.)

About Diamondback Energy

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.