GW&K Investment Management LLC Takes $42.55 Million Position in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,101,472 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $42,550,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oaktree Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $240,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 28.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,906,846 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $646,180,000 after acquiring an additional 3,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 18.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,423,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $474,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,417 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 452.4% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,661,991 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $63,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Viper Energy by 7,413.0% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,109,824 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $42,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,052 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities raised their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Friday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.38.

Viper Energy Stock Down 2.0%

VNOM stock opened at $45.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.00 and a beta of 0.38. Viper Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.10 and a fifty-two week high of $51.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a current ratio of 6.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.84 and a 200-day moving average of $43.22.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $499.82 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 2.77% and a positive return on equity of 2.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 108.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -475.00%.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy Partners LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and intends to acquire mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. As a pass-through entity, Viper Energy Partners does not engage in drilling or production operations directly; instead, it generates revenues by holding overriding royalty interests, mineral fee interests and royalty fee interests. These interests entitle the partnership to receive a percentage of the proceeds from hydrocarbons produced and sold by third-party operators.

The partnership’s assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin, with a primary focus on the Delaware Basin region of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.