Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,232 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Founders Capital Management grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 404.0% in the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $249.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $237.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.71.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $168.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.64. The company has a market cap of $30.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $143.08 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $189.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.52.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.51% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy 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.