Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.93.

Viper Energy Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $40.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.68. The company has a current ratio of 6.37, a quick ratio of 6.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Viper Energy has a 12-month low of $35.10 and a 12-month high of $51.13. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 314.41 and a beta of 0.50.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. The company had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.45 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.43% and a net margin of 2.89%.The firm’s revenue was up 127.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a yield of 281.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 1,169.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 1,250.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 945 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the second quarter worth about $56,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 31.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 20.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,481 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Viper Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VNOM) is an oil and gas company that owns and acquires mineral, royalty and overriding royalty interests in properties operated primarily by other exploration and production companies. Its interests provide exposure to production from wells without requiring Viper to fund most drilling and completion activities.

The company’s assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, including the Midland and Delaware sub-basins. Viper’s interests are associated mainly with oil and natural gas development and generate revenue from its share of production, while its broad and diversified ownership position spans numerous wells and acreage holdings.

Viper Energy was established as Viper Energy Partners and became a publicly traded master limited partnership in 2014.