Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $55.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.47.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ VNOM opened at $45.63 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -198.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. Viper Energy has a 12-month low of $35.10 and a 12-month high of $49.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.59.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -660.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $15,223,000 after purchasing an additional 371,832 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,398,000. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Viper Energy by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,498 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC increased its position in Viper Energy by 10,886.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 8,165 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently 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.