Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG – Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $184.38, but opened at $177.76. Diamondback Energy shares last traded at $177.91, with a volume of 279,346 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.09.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on FANG

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $31.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $184.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.64.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.01. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The company had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 17.37 earnings per share 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%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.29%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after buying an additional 2,381,488 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $603,038,000 after buying an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,900 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $538,547,000 after purchasing an additional 247,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,473,831 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $495,236,000 after purchasing an additional 164,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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