Mount Lucas Management LP Buys Shares of 11,587 Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Mount Lucas Management LP acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,587 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,320,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FANG. Founders Capital Management boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 404.0% in the 1st quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $237.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Diamondback Energy stock traded down $4.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $179.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,505,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,528,718. The firm has a market cap of $32.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.89. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $143.08 and a one year high of $214.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $198.04 and a 200 day moving average of $195.93.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.08 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $2.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost 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 currently 20.29%.

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.