Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on VNOM. Barclays increased their price target on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. TD Securities set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Viper Energy from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.20.

Viper Energy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VNOM opened at $38.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.09. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $52.10.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $418.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.35 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 20.62%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 98.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.55%.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Viper Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 48.7% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 503.3% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.