Short Interest in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Decreases By 26.0%

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,863,078 shares, a decrease of 26.0% from the March 31st total of 10,627,731 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,855,129 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Viper Energy by 38.1% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 13,218 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Viper Energy by 264.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,872,000 after acquiring an additional 174,684 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $9,233,000 after purchasing an additional 37,847 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 30.7% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,785 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 23,028 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viper Energy Stock Up 0.1%

VNOM stock opened at $47.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a PE ratio of -207.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.06 and its 200 day moving average is $41.25. Viper Energy has a one year low of $35.10 and a one year high of $49.08.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The business 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 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

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