Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.7857.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VNOM shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Viper Energy Price Performance

VNOM stock opened at $47.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -205.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.48. 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 has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $49.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.72.

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

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is -660.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 1,672.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 394,067 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,223,000 after buying an additional 371,832 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,398,000. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 10,886.7% in 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 during the last quarter. 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.