Oaktree Capital Management LP Takes Position in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• Oaktree Capital bought a new stake of 6,285,062 shares of Viper Energy (≈$240.2M) in Q3, making VNOM its 6th-largest holding and representing about 1.9% of Oaktree's portfolio (Oaktree owns ~2.18% of VNOM).
• Viper Energy beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.31 vs. $0.27) and reported revenue up 87.6% year-over-year$51.71 ("Moderate Buy").
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, ~3.4% yield), while institutional ownership is high at 87.72% with major holders including Vanguard and Capital World Investors.

Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,285,062 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $240,215,000. Viper Energy comprises 1.9% of Oaktree Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Oaktree Capital Management LP owned about 2.18% of Viper Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 28.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,906,846 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $646,180,000 after buying an additional 3,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,423,354 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $474,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,417 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $198,182,000 after acquiring an additional 148,503 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Viper Energy by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,802,730 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $145,021,000 after acquiring an additional 235,374 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Viper Energy by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,687,541 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $102,476,000 after acquiring an additional 296,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.36. 280,373 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,243,922. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $41.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.37. The company has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -192.57 and a beta of 0.48. Viper Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.71 and a twelve month high of $48.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $415.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. Viper Energy's revenue was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Viper Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy's payout ratio is -660.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VNOM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viper Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.71.

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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