Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 68,839 Shares of Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,623,342 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 68,839 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $62,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $646,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699,141 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,916,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $498,967,000 after purchasing an additional 493,203 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $240,215,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 2.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 148,503 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,986,716 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $192,672,000 after purchasing an additional 258,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $44.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 6.17 and a quick ratio of 6.17. Viper Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.10 and a 1 year high of $51.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.40. The firm has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.68 and a beta of 0.38.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 2.77% and a positive return on equity of 2.64%. The business had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $499.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 108.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -475.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VNOM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Friday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.38.

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.