Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 39,794 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its Diamondback Energy stake by 426.4% in the first quarter, buying 39,794 additional shares to bring its total holdings to 49,127 shares worth about $9.7 million.
• Diamondback Energy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.23 versus the $3.74 estimate and revenue of $4.24 billion, supported by 4.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share from $1.05, while analysts currently maintain a Buy consensus with an average target price of $220.68.

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 426.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,127 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,794 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $9,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Trust grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.7% in the first quarter. American Trust now owns 1,500 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth $3,317,000. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 23,616 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $4,671,000 after buying an additional 2,237 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 60.5% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,427 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,469,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $189.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.30 and a 1 year high of $214.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.10 and a 200 day moving average of $180.37. The company has a market cap of $53.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 220.65 and a beta of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.54 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.17 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research cut Diamondback Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $220.68.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,640,370.50. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 851,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.