JPMorgan Chase & Co. Begins Coverage on Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $182.00 price objective on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com cut Diamondback Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Benchmark reissued a buy rating and issued a $154.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Diamondback Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $209.50.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 3.4 %

FANG opened at $194.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a current ratio of 3.66. The company has a market cap of $34.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $143.08 and a one year high of $214.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $187.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.25.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.51% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 18.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $2.34 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 198,126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $30,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,163 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 83,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $12,952,000 after buying an additional 9,034 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 602,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $93,487,000 after buying an additional 74,886 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 180.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 30,193 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,682,000 after acquiring an additional 19,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.