Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 100,000 Shares of Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 350,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.12% of Viper Energy worth $13,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,906,846 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $646,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699,141 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 2.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,197,538 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $198,182,000 after buying an additional 148,503 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 6.6% during the second 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 last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,687,541 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $102,476,000 after acquiring an additional 296,749 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Viper Energy by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,243,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $85,337,000 after acquiring an additional 537,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ VNOM opened at $44.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 27.96 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.88. Viper Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $51.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VNOM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.71.

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.