Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Stock Rating Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Viper Energy from “Buy” to “Hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Buy,” with a $56.53 average price target.
• Viper Energy reported quarterly EPS of $0.76, in line with estimates, while revenue reached $677 million—up 127.9% year over year and above expectations.
• The stock opened at $42.99, near its 50-day moving average, and institutional investors own 87.72% of shares; recent analysts have generally maintained bullish ratings and raised some price targets.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on VNOM. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. TD boosted their price objective on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.53.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ VNOM opened at $42.99 on Friday. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $35.10 and a 52-week high of $51.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 6.37 and a current ratio of 6.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.96 and a 200-day moving average of $44.55. The stock has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a PE ratio of 330.72 and a beta of 0.50.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.43% and a net margin of 2.89%. The business had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Viper Energy's quarterly revenue was up 127.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 34.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,431 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 131.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 21,399 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $854,000 after buying an additional 12,172 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Viper Energy during the third quarter worth about $247,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Viper Energy by 57.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,573 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 8,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Viper Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,453,000. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Viper Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Viper Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC raised its price target to $57 from $55 and maintained an Outperform rating, signaling increased confidence in Viper Energy’s valuation and potential upside. RBC Lifts Price Target on Viper Energy to $57 From $55, Keeps Outperform Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research continues to rate VNOM a Strong Buy and increased its Q4 2027 EPS estimate to $0.55 from $0.51 and its Q1 2028 estimate to $0.56 from $0.55. These increases provide some support for the bullish outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Viper Energy is approaching its November 2 earnings report, which could become the next major catalyst as investors assess production, commodity-price exposure and management’s outlook. Viper Energy Stock Heads Toward November 2 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was zero shares as of October 9, implying a zero-day days-to-cover ratio based on average volume. Because the reported “significant increase” conflicts with the zero-share figure, the data may be unreliable and should not be treated as a meaningful change in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered several 2027 forecasts: Q1 EPS to $0.55 from $0.64, Q2 to $0.57 from $0.58, Q3 to $0.54 from $0.56, and full-year 2027 EPS to $2.22 from $2.29. The reductions temper the impact of the higher price target, despite Zacks retaining its Strong Buy rating.

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.

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