Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Increases Holdings in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Viper Energy Inc. by 21.6% during Q1, owning nearly 4.69% of the company, valued at approximately $451.3 million.
• Viper Energy reported earnings per share of $0.41 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with revenues also exceeding expectations at $297 million.
• Despite a strong performance, Viper Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53, reduced from previous payments, resulting in a yield of 5.4%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,996,351 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,778,093 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 4.69% of Viper Energy worth $451,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 28.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $587,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,921,832 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,301,933 shares in the last quarter. Burkehill Global Management LP purchased a new position in Viper Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $27,090,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 591,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bornite Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Viper Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $22,575,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Viper Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:VNOM traded up $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $39.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,161,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,725,068. Viper Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $56.76. The company has a quick ratio of 6.15, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.99.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 37.84%.The business had revenue of $297.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 37.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Viper Energy's payout ratio is presently 38.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VNOM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. William Blair initiated coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Monday, August 18th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $55.93.

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.