Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 4,408,972 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 2,649,531 shares.The stock last traded at $45.8810 and had previously closed at $47.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VNOM. Citigroup raised 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.43.

Viper Energy Stock Down 4.7%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.87 and a 200 day moving average of $39.03. The firm has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -197.12 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. The company 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 was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -573.91%.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 38.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after buying an additional 13,218 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 264.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,872,000 after buying an additional 174,684 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Viper Energy by 22.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,499 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,233,000 after acquiring an additional 37,847 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 359,930 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $13,724,000 after purchasing an additional 79,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 19,918 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.