Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Holdings Increased by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 530,479 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,253 shares during the period. Viper Energy comprises 1.3% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $24,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VNOM. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 13,720 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Viper Energy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,849 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,348 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,036 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,225 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VNOM shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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 increased their price target on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Viper Energy Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $44.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $44.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.06. 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 cap of $15.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.68 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $511.00 million for 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%.Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 108.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -475.00%.

Viper Energy 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.