Johnson Rice Begins Coverage on Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Analysts at Johnson Rice began coverage on shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) in a note issued to investors on Monday. The firm set an “accumulate” rating and a $55.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Johnson Rice’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 25.46% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research cut Viper Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Roth Capital set a $52.00 target price on Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.13.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

VNOM traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.84. 327,896 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,404,104. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.57. The company has a current ratio of 6.17, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Viper Energy has a 1-year low of $35.10 and a 1-year high of $51.13.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $499.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 108.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 31.2% in 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 256.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viper Energy by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 654 shares during the period. 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.