Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stake in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,827,514 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,951,000 after buying an additional 21,977 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,418,230 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,086,000 after buying an additional 34,625 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,127,070 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,239,000 after buying an additional 44,291 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 937,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,023,000 after buying an additional 85,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 600,462 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $16,741,000 after buying an additional 70,815 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Viper Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays assumed coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $39.04 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.07 and a 200 day moving average of $32.58. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.79. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $41.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.32 and a quick ratio of 4.32.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $204.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.61 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 24.17%. Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Viper Energy’s previous None dividend of $0.09. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.00%.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin, North America. Viper Energy Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Viper Energy Partners LP and changed its name to Viper Energy, Inc in November 2023.