Yousif Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 24.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,811 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,505,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,469,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 20.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 389,473 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 164.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 576,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,296,000 after purchasing an additional 358,487 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,964,130 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 310,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VNOM. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.85.

Viper Energy Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $42.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $56.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.13.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is currently 31.58%.

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.