United Services Automobile Association Acquires Shares of 7,932 Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association acquired 7,932 shares of Viper Energy Inc. valued at approximately $351,000, marking a new position in the oil and gas producer.
• Several institutional investors, including Swiss National Bank and Principal Financial Group Inc., increased their stakes in Viper Energy, bringing institutional ownership to 87.72%.
• Viper Energy reported earnings with EPS of $0.41, surpassing estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53, reflecting a 5.4% dividend yield.

United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,932 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Viper Energy by 264.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,872,000 after acquiring an additional 174,684 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC increased its position in Viper Energy by 42.5% during the first quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 23,812 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 7,107 shares during the period. Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new position in Viper Energy during the first quarter worth about $256,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Viper Energy by 38.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 13,218 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy during the first quarter worth about $1,351,000. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.16. 181,511 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,726,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 6.15 and a current ratio of 6.15. Viper Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $56.76. The company has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $38.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.96.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 37.84%.The business had revenue of $297.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 37.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VNOM shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Monday, August 18th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Monday, August 25th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $55.53.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.