KeyCorp Raises Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Price Target to $65.00

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at KeyCorp from $56.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 39.88% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays cut their target price on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viper Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.33.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VNOM opened at $46.47 on Thursday. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $49.08. The firm has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -202.03, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a current ratio of 3.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.25.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $415.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. Viper Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $646,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $498,967,000 after buying an additional 493,203 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $443,918,000 after buying an additional 1,144,863 shares during the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $240,215,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of 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. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.