Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Stock

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 11.95% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Fourteen investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.80.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $46.45 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -201.95, a PEG ratio of 29.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Viper Energy has a 52 week low of $34.71 and a 52 week high of $48.23.

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

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 28.0% in 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 buying an additional 3,699,141 shares during the period. 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 valued at $498,967,000 after acquiring an additional 493,203 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $443,918,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,863 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $240,215,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Viper Energy by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 5,711,539 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $220,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,838 shares in the last quarter. 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.