I liked VNR for its geographic diversity, with 2/3 of its production coming from outside of the Permian Basin, and no exposure to Marcellus / Northeast. Nothing wrong with those areas, just trying to ensure that not all the eggs are in a single basket.

Bought in in April 2012 for $27.84. Today (December 2013), it's trading around $29.10, so I'm up 4.5%, while collecting 8.5% distributions.

VNR features monthly distributions, and no IDR.