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

Key Points

• GW&K Investment Management disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Viper Energy, buying 1,101,472 shares valued at about $42.55 million. The position represents roughly 0.31% of the company.
• Viper Energy continues to draw strong institutional interest, with 87.72% of shares held by institutional investors and hedge funds. Several other firms also increased their VNOM holdings during recent quarters.
• Analysts remain bullish on the stock: recent moves included a Zacks upgrade to strong-buy and higher price targets from firms such as KeyCorp, Raymond James, and Barclays. The consensus rating is Buy with an average price target of $58.38.

GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,101,472 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $42,550,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned about 0.31% of Viper Energy as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VNOM. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 3.7% during the third quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 7,841 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,348 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 37,746 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,239 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 128,182 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,952,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VNOM shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Truist Financial set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $58.38.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

VNOM opened at $45.12 on Wednesday. Viper Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.10 and a 1-year high of $51.13. The company has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.00 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day moving average price is $46.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.22. The company has a current ratio of 6.17, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $499.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 108.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.5 EPS 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 3.4%. 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.

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