Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Buy” Rating

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday. The brokerage presently has a $55.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 21.90% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.47.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $45.12 on Monday. Viper Energy has a 52 week low of $35.10 and a 52 week high of $49.08. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -196.17, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.55.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 4.87%.Viper Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VNOM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Viper Energy during the third quarter worth $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Viper Energy during the third quarter worth $38,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viper Energy by 503.3% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viper Energy by 68.3% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

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.