Truist Financial Initiates Coverage on Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Stock analysts at Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.07% from the company’s current price.

VNOM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.93.

Viper Energy Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of VNOM opened at $47.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -205.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.48. Viper Energy has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $49.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.72. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. Viper Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 13,218 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Viper Energy by 264.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,872,000 after buying an additional 174,684 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Viper Energy by 22.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,499 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,233,000 after buying an additional 37,847 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Viper Energy by 4.4% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,902 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Viper Energy by 18.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,865 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.