Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as “Outperform” by Royal Bank Of Canada

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $240.00 target price on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 18.42% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.71.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $202.67. The company had a trading volume of 430,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,625,817. The stock has a market cap of $56.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.50 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $137.03 and a 12-month high of $216.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.19.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 21.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Travis Stice sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total transaction of $15,323,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at $10,159,723.37. This represents a 60.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total value of $6,124,605.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 759,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $139,617,411.36. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 141,666 shares of company stock valued at $28,061,456. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,303,362,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $852,791,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 31.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,420,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,886,351,000 after buying an additional 3,918,943 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at about $268,855,000. Finally, EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII L.P. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $169,342,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves. The company’s operations are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, particularly the Midland and Delaware Basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids from horizontal wells and related infrastructure. Its activities include drilling and completing wells, operating gathering and processing assets, and managing midstream services that support production.