Brokerages Set Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Price Target at $54.47

Shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.00.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. TD Securities upped their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VNOM. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Viper Energy during the third quarter worth $9,853,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Viper Energy by 26.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,323,000 after acquiring an additional 77,519 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Viper Energy by 58.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 198,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,571,000 after acquiring an additional 73,303 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its stake in Viper Energy by 190.4% during the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 59,960 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,292,000 after acquiring an additional 39,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Viper Energy by 958.9% during the third quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 223,426 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $8,539,000 after acquiring an additional 202,326 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ VNOM opened at $47.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -206.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $45.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.06. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $35.10 and a 52-week high of $49.08.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -660.87%.

About Viper Energy

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.