Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $183.36 and last traded at $177.8460, with a volume of 822811 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $174.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on FANG. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $169.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $175.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.86.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65 and a beta of 0.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.26). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,828,599.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock valued at $225,026,921. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 74.1% in the fourth 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. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $169,342,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $144,775,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $112,198,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.