Brokerages Set Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Price Target at $51.79

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.2667.

A number of analysts have recently commented on VNOM shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday.

Viper Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $47.85 on Tuesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $34.71 and a 12 month high of $49.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.98. The stock has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a PE ratio of -208.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $415.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the third quarter worth about $240,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,906,846 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $646,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,423,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $474,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,417 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 452.4% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,661,991 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $63,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,130 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,087,000. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.