Hancock Whitney Corp Buys 2,312 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,817 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $1.01 on Thursday, hitting $133.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 898,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,094,534. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.78. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company has a market capitalization of $39.12 billion, a PE ratio of 7.62, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.55 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.32%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded Diamondback Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $202.00 to $170.00 in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $207.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $199.00.

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.