Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys New Stake in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,680 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 701 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Viper Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,323 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 14,396 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in Viper Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 22,743 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Viper Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,230 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VNOM has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Viper Energy from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.85.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $41.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.64. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.71 and a 12 month high of $56.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 7.24.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 6.72% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.58%.

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.

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