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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Viper Energy by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 247,177 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $11,160,000 after buying an additional 44,700 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $1,701,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Viper Energy by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 302,575 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $13,661,000 after buying an additional 65,375 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Viper Energy by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 59,901 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,705,000 after buying an additional 10,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in Viper Energy by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,552,974 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $70,117,000 after buying an additional 271,337 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VNOM shares. Barclays raised their target price on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Roth Capital set a $50.00 price target on shares of Viper Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Monday, August 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $55.53.

Viper Energy Price Performance

VNOM stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $37.50. 1,693,615 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,735,923. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 6.15 and a quick ratio of 6.15. The company has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.04. Viper Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $56.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.04.

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

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.15%.

Viper Energy 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.