Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Stock Rated “Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.56.

Several research firms have issued reports on VNOM. Johnson Rice started coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “accumulate” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Thursday. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 11th.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM traded up $1.29 on Friday, reaching $45.02. 1,705,717 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,411,120. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.18 and a 200-day moving average of $44.42. The company has a current ratio of 6.37, a quick ratio of 6.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 346.33 and a beta of 0.50. 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, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.43% and a net margin of 2.89%. The company had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Viper Energy’s revenue was up 127.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Womack Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Viper Energy by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Womack Financial LLC now owns 11,634 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Viper Energy by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,431 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Viper Energy by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 21,399 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 12,172 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Viper Energy in the third quarter worth $247,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Viper Energy by 57.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,573 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 8,642 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VNOM) is an oil and gas company that owns and acquires mineral, royalty and overriding royalty interests in properties operated primarily by other exploration and production companies. Its interests provide exposure to production from wells without requiring Viper to fund most drilling and completion activities.

The company’s assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, including the Midland and Delaware sub-basins. Viper’s interests are associated mainly with oil and natural gas development and generate revenue from its share of production, while its broad and diversified ownership position spans numerous wells and acreage holdings.

Viper Energy was established as Viper Energy Partners and became a publicly traded master limited partnership in 2014.