Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.38.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $43.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.56 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.73 and its 200 day moving average is $43.34. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $35.10 and a 1 year high of $51.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 6.17 and a quick ratio of 6.17.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $511.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $499.82 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 2.77% and a positive return on equity of 2.64%. Viper Energy’s revenue was up 108.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 151.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,536 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. 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.