Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on VNOM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 boosted their target price on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.15.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VNOM opened at $40.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of -127.34 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.78. Viper Energy has a 12-month low of $35.10 and a 12-month high of $51.13.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $499.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 108.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Viper Energy by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 13,218 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 264.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,872,000 after purchasing an additional 174,684 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 22.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,499 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,233,000 after purchasing an additional 37,847 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 30.7% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,785 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 23,028 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.