Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Short Interest Up 9.3% in August

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,760,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the July 31st total of 5,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 6th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.85.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG traded down $7.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $187.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,338,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,239. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $143.08 and a 12 month high of $214.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $33.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.91.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 19.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Founders Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.