Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Position Lifted by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 530,479 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,253 shares during the quarter. Viper Energy comprises about 1.3% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.15% of Viper Energy worth $24,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in Viper Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 256.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 654 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VNOM. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Viper Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Roth Capital set a $52.00 price target on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM stock opened at $44.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 6.17, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of -138.68 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.06. Viper Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.10 and a 52 week high of $51.13.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its quarterly 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. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 2.77% and a positive return on equity of 2.64%. The firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $499.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 108.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

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

About Viper Energy

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.