Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Stock Position in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,378 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VNOM. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Viper Energy by 10.8% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 27,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $327,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 44.4% during the second quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 11,055 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the second quarter worth $787,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 101.2% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 324,138 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $12,359,000 after purchasing an additional 163,060 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VNOM. Mizuho reduced their target price on Viper Energy from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. TD Securities set a $54.00 price target on Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Roth Capital set a $50.00 price objective on Viper Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Viper Energy stock opened at $36.59 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 6.15 and a current ratio of 6.15. Viper Energy Inc. has a one year low of $34.71 and a one year high of $56.76.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 37.84%.The company had revenue of $297.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 37.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.15%.

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.