Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Receives $54.20 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.20.

VNOM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, TD Securities set a $54.00 target price on Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th.

Viper Energy Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of VNOM stock opened at $36.54 on Thursday. Viper Energy has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $52.03. The company has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 21.84 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.97.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (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 net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 3.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 98.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the second quarter valued at $608,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Viper Energy by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 303,909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,588,000 after acquiring an additional 39,867 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 41,242 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in Viper Energy by 140.6% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 48,760 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 28,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Viper Energy during the second quarter worth about $505,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

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.