Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.80.

A number of research firms recently commented on VNOM. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNOM. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 1,672.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 394,067 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,223,000 after buying an additional 371,832 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,398,000. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Viper Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $97,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Viper Energy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,498 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC grew its stake in Viper Energy by 10,886.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 8,165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of VNOM opened at $46.45 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -201.95, a P/E/G ratio of 29.20 and a beta of 0.51. Viper Energy has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $48.23.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -573.91%.

Viper Energy Company Profile

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.