GW&K Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 36.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,072,101 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 283,628 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.50% of Viper Energy worth $48,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,701,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Viper Energy by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 302,575 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $13,661,000 after purchasing an additional 65,375 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Viper Energy by 21.3% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 59,901 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 10,529 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in Viper Energy by 21.2% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,552,974 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $70,117,000 after acquiring an additional 271,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its position in shares of Viper Energy by 38.4% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 25,600 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VNOM. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.46.

Viper Energy Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:VNOM traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.63. 566,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,589,185. Viper Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $56.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 8.70 and a current ratio of 8.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.48 and a beta of 0.97.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a net margin of 43.43% and a return on equity of 5.41%. The business had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $233.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.