Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp cut their price target on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Viper Energy from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James set a $52.00 target price on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $72.00 price target on Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.31.

Viper Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $40.56 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 7.24. Viper Energy has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $56.76.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 6.72% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 31.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $587,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,921,832 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $95,505,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Viper Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,469,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Viper Energy by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,309,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $113,324,000 after buying an additional 389,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 164.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 576,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,296,000 after buying an additional 358,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.