Hancock Whitney Corp Grows Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,505 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 178.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $6,112,000 after acquiring an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,358,000 after purchasing an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 33.5% in the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,768.9% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth $601,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FANG. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Johnson Rice lowered Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $175.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $182.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Diamondback Energy

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.