Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Posts Earnings Results

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by ($3.58), Zacks reports. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $6.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $214.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,035,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,919,366. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.22 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16 and a beta of 0.46. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $127.75 and a twelve month high of $214.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $187.42 and a 200 day moving average of $164.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.87%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.93, for a total value of $1,523,708.01. Following the sale, the director owned 958,435 shares in the company, valued at $185,869,299.55. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 107,755 shares in the company, valued at $20,473,450. The trade was a 4.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,217,069 shares of company stock valued at $201,213,109. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 37.5% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at $2,301,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 13.5% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,104 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,022,000 after buying an additional 6,069 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 8.5% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 52,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,194,000 after buying an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 37.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 154,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $21,239,000 after buying an additional 41,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on FANG. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $202.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $208.05.

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.