Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.1538.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VNOM. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNOM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 68.3% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 256.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of VNOM stock traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.94. 327,340 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,542,409. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.54 and its 200-day moving average is $43.82. The company has a market cap of $14.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -127.94 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 6.17, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Viper Energy has a fifty-two week low of $35.10 and a fifty-two week high of $51.13.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.12. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.64% and a negative net margin of 2.77%.The firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $499.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 108.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -475.00%.

Viper Energy Company 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.