Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Position Increased by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426,429 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 100,348 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Viper Energy worth $16,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 103.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 149,327 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,707,000 after acquiring an additional 75,942 shares during the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $388,000. NFC Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,923,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,416,000. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 8.8% in the third quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 13,168 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Securities lifted their target price 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. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.43.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $44.10 on Friday. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.20. Viper Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $48.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a PE ratio of -191.73 and a beta of 0.48.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share 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 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 firm posted $2.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -660.87%.

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.