Brokerages Set Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) PT at $51.79

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.9333.

A number of research analysts have commented on VNOM shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $47.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -207.90, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $43.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.90. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $49.08.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $435.00 million during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -660.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VNOM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy during the third quarter worth $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy during the third quarter worth $38,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 503.3% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 68.3% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by 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.