Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Stake Cut by Aventail Capital Group LP

Aventail Capital Group LP lessened its holdings in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 40.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 577,371 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 384,914 shares during the quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $22,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the second quarter worth $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 503.3% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $44.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.40. The company has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of -192.38 and a beta of 0.48. Viper Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.71 and a fifty-two week high of $48.00.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The firm had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $415.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is presently -660.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VNOM shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays cut their price target on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.71.

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.