Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

VNOM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Viper Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $57.00 target price on Viper Energy in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Viper Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.93.

Viper Energy Price Performance

VNOM stock opened at $40.64 on Friday. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $35.10 and a 1 year high of $51.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.37 and a quick ratio of 6.37. The stock has a market cap of $14.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 312.64 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.72.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Viper Energy had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 3.43%. The firm had revenue of $677.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 127.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 13,720 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,849 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 0.6% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,217,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 31.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 1.8% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,036 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VNOM) is an oil and gas company that owns and acquires mineral, royalty and overriding royalty interests in properties operated primarily by other exploration and production companies. Its interests provide exposure to production from wells without requiring Viper to fund most drilling and completion activities.

The company’s assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, including the Midland and Delaware sub-basins. Viper’s interests are associated mainly with oil and natural gas development and generate revenue from its share of production, while its broad and diversified ownership position spans numerous wells and acreage holdings.

Viper Energy was established as Viper Energy Partners and became a publicly traded master limited partnership in 2014.