Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Now Covered by William Blair

William Blair started coverage on shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on VNOM. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America cut their price target 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 cut shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $56.36.

Viper Energy Price Performance

VNOM opened at $39.45 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.15, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $56.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.00. The company has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 0.99.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $297.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.35 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 37.84% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 22.1% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 247,177 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,160,000 after purchasing an additional 44,700 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter worth $1,701,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 27.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 302,575 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,661,000 after acquiring an additional 65,375 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 21.3% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 59,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 10,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 21.2% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,552,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $70,117,000 after acquiring an additional 271,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

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.