SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its position in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 25.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,933 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 14,007 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $1,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Viper Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 14,396 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,804,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Viper Energy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,297 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,165,000 after buying an additional 16,172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ VNOM opened at $42.52 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.13. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.71 and a 12 month high of $56.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 7.24. The company has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 1.00.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 6.72% and a net margin of 24.65%. The company had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VNOM. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $72.00 price objective on Viper Energy in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.85.

Viper Energy Company Profile

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.