Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Shares Acquired by HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management increased its stake in Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 452.4% in Q3 to 1,661,991 shares — roughly 3.5% of HITE's portfolio and about $63.5 million (0.58% of VNOM).
• Analysts have trended positive, with multiple firms raising price targets and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $51.71.
• Viper Energy raised its quarterly dividend from $0.33 to $0.38 (annualized $1.52), implying a roughly 3.4% yield.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 452.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,661,991 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 1,361,130 shares during the quarter. Viper Energy comprises approximately 3.5% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned about 0.58% of Viper Energy worth $63,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Viper Energy by 38.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 13,218 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Viper Energy by 264.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,872,000 after purchasing an additional 174,684 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,499 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $9,233,000 after purchasing an additional 37,847 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,488 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $222,000. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viper Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.71.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ VNOM opened at $44.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72. The company has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -192.17 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.37. Viper Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $48.00.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $415.51 million. The business's quarterly revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -660.87%.

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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