Bernzott Capital Advisors Has $6.47 Million Stock Holdings in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Bernzott Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,018 shares during the period. Viper Energy accounts for about 3.1% of Bernzott Capital Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Bernzott Capital Advisors’ holdings in Viper Energy were worth $6,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VNOM. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,916,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $498,967,000 after purchasing an additional 493,203 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,491,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $443,918,000 after buying an additional 1,144,863 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $240,215,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 5,711,539 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $220,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,197,538 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $198,182,000 after acquiring an additional 148,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Viper Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.15.

Viper Energy Trading Down 3.1%

VNOM opened at $41.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 6.17 and a quick ratio of 6.17. Viper Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.10 and a fifty-two week high of $51.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a PE ratio of -130.21 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $45.20 and its 200 day moving average is $43.90.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $499.81 million. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.64% and a negative net margin of 2.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 108.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.