Ethic Inc. Buys Shares of 49,969 Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 49,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,910,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VNOM. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 2.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,197,538 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $198,182,000 after buying an additional 148,503 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,802,730 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $145,021,000 after purchasing an additional 235,374 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,687,541 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $102,476,000 after purchasing an additional 296,749 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,243,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $85,337,000 after purchasing an additional 537,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Viper Energy by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,980,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $89,432,000 after purchasing an additional 539,517 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viper Energy Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ VNOM opened at $38.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.00 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Viper Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.71 and a 12 month high of $52.10.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 20.62%.The company had revenue of $418.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 98.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 54.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Viper Energy from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.20.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy Partners LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and intends to acquire mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. As a pass-through entity, Viper Energy Partners does not engage in drilling or production operations directly; instead, it generates revenues by holding overriding royalty interests, mineral fee interests and royalty fee interests. These interests entitle the partnership to receive a percentage of the proceeds from hydrocarbons produced and sold by third-party operators.

The partnership’s assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin, with a primary focus on the Delaware Basin region of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.