HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Sells 935,855 Shares of Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management reduced its Viper Energy stake by 56.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 935,855 shares and leaving it with 726,136 shares worth about $28.1 million.
• Despite the sale, institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 87.72% of Viper Energy's stock.
• Analysts remain largely bullish on VNOM, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.38, while the stock recently traded at $44.38 and also pays a quarterly dividend yielding about 3.4%.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 56.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 726,136 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 935,855 shares during the period. Viper Energy comprises approximately 1.8% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Viper Energy worth $28,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 7,841 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 37,746 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring 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

VNOM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Friday, May 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.38.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VNOM opened at $44.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.68 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a current 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's 50-day simple moving average is $46.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.35.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) 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 $499.82 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 anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Viper Energy's payout ratio is -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.

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