Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.1538.

Several research analysts have recently commented on VNOM shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Viper Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Friday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the third quarter worth $240,215,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,423,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $474,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,417 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 452.4% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,661,991 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $63,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,130 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 4th quarter worth $52,087,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Viper Energy by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,491,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $443,918,000 after buying an additional 1,144,863 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM stock opened at $41.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -128.81 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.94 and its 200 day moving average is $43.79. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $35.10 and a 52-week high of $51.13.

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

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Viper Energy’s payout ratio 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.