Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Given New $65.00 Price Target at KeyCorp

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) had its price objective lifted by KeyCorp from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial started coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.33.

Viper Energy Price Performance

VNOM opened at $46.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a PE ratio of -202.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.18. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $49.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. Viper Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -660.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNOM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Viper Energy during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 68.3% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viper Energy

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.