Sentry Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 14,652 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 181,535 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,697,000 after acquiring an additional 28,800 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,827,514 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $50,951,000 after buying an additional 21,977 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the third quarter valued at $1,747,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 7,400.5% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 15,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 10.1% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 17,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

VNOM stock opened at $39.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.33. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.48 and a 52 week high of $41.22.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.20. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 24.17%. The business had revenue of $204.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a yield of 3%. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous None dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VNOM shares. Raymond James dropped their price target on Viper Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Viper Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays assumed coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

Viper Energy Profile

Viper Energy, Inc owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin, North America. Viper Energy Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Viper Energy Partners LP and changed its name to Viper Energy, Inc in November 2023.