Ashford Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 342,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $16,103,000. Viper Energy makes up 2.0% of Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Viper Energy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,916,557 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $498,967,000 after purchasing an additional 493,203 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,491,534 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $443,918,000 after buying an additional 1,144,863 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 5,711,539 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $220,637,000 after buying an additional 1,024,838 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 2.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,197,538 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $198,182,000 after buying an additional 148,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,986,716 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $192,672,000 after buying an additional 258,082 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $43.04 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.37. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.50 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a current ratio of 6.17. Viper Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.10 and a fifty-two week high of $51.13.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.12. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.64% and a negative net margin of 2.77%.The business had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $499.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 108.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is presently -475.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VNOM. KeyCorp raised their target price on Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Roth Capital set a $52.00 price objective on Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Viper Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Friday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.57.

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.