Neo Ivy Capital Management Buys Shares of 58,234 Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position of 58,234 shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) in Q3, valued at about $2.226 million.
• Institutional interest is high—87.72% institutional ownership—and several funds (Aptus, Barclays, etc.) increased stakes; analysts skew positive with 14 Buy ratings, 2 Holds and an average target of $51.43 (rated "Moderate Buy").
• Viper beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.31 vs $0.27; revenue $435M vs $415.5M, up 87.6% YoY) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, ~3.4% yield).

Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 58,234 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $2,226,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VNOM. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 3.7% in the third quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 7,841 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 30.8% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 426,429 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $16,298,000 after buying an additional 100,348 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 103.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 149,327 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,707,000 after buying an additional 75,942 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the third quarter worth about $388,000. Finally, NFC Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the third quarter worth about $4,923,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VNOM shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Securities boosted their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.43.

Viper Energy Trading Up 1.0%

Viper Energy stock opened at $44.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a current ratio of 3.72. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $41.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a PE ratio of -191.73 and a beta of 0.48. Viper Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.71 and a 52 week high of $48.00.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 4.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Viper Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -660.87%.

Viper Energy Profile

Viper Energy Partners LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and intends to acquire mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. As a pass-through entity, Viper Energy Partners does not engage in drilling or production operations directly; instead, it generates revenues by holding overriding royalty interests, mineral fee interests and royalty fee interests. These interests entitle the partnership to receive a percentage of the proceeds from hydrocarbons produced and sold by third-party operators.

The partnership's assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin, with a primary focus on the Delaware Basin region of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

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