Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Viper Energy by 11.4% in Q1, raising its holdings to 97,498 shares worth approximately $4.4 million.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Buy" for Viper Energy, with an average target price of $55.80 after recent price objectives were adjusted by various firms.
• Viper Energy reported earnings of $0.41 per share, exceeding expectations, while revenue for the quarter rose by 37.1% year-over-year.

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,498 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 9,986 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $4,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $587,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,921,832 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Viper Energy by 21.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,996,351 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $451,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Viper Energy by 12.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,953,910 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $539,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301,933 shares during the period. Burkehill Global Management LP purchased a new position in Viper Energy during the first quarter worth about $27,090,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Viper Energy by 102.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,168,306 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $52,749,000 after purchasing an additional 591,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Viper Energy Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of VNOM traded down $1.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.28. 2,811,349 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,438,130. Viper Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.71 and a twelve month high of $56.76. The stock has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.31. The company has a quick ratio of 6.15, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Viper Energy had a net margin of 37.84% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The business had revenue of $297.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 37.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Viper Energy's payout ratio is 38.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VNOM shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $55.80.

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.