Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Stock Bumped Up to “Buy” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on VNOM. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Johnson Rice assumed coverage on Viper Energy in a report on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “accumulate” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial set a $57.00 price objective on Viper Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $56.56.

Viper Energy Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of VNOM opened at $45.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 6.37, a quick ratio of 6.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Viper Energy has a 12-month low of $35.10 and a 12-month high of $51.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 0.50.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.76. The firm had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.45 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 3.43%. Viper Energy’s revenue was up 127.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a yield of 281.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,169.23%.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Viper Energy by 1,250.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 945 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the second quarter worth about $56,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 31.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 20.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,481 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VNOM) owns mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties, primarily in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico. The company’s interests are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware basins, two of the most active producing regions in the United States.

Viper generally does not operate wells or directly conduct drilling and completion activities. Instead, it leases its mineral interests to exploration and production companies and receives royalty, overriding royalty and other mineral-related payments from the sale of hydrocarbons produced on those properties.