Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Price Target Raised to $52.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $52.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on VNOM. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.79.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM stock opened at $44.90 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.44. The firm has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -195.21 and a beta of 0.48. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $48.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a current ratio of 3.72.

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

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is -660.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 28.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,906,846 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $646,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Viper Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,916,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $498,967,000 after buying an additional 493,203 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Viper Energy by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,491,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $443,918,000 after buying an additional 1,144,863 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $240,215,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Viper Energy by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 5,711,539 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $220,637,000 after buying an additional 1,024,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

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.