Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Stock

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $52.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.96% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. TD Securities lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.79.

Viper Energy Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of VNOM traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 421,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,234,045. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.84 and its 200-day moving average is $39.40. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $48.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -194.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $608,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Viper Energy by 15.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 303,909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,588,000 after acquiring an additional 39,867 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $505,000. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 190.4% in the 3rd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 59,960 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,292,000 after purchasing an additional 39,315 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 26.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,323,000 after buying an additional 77,519 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.