Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Holdings in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 21.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 339,124 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 60,112 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.16% of Viper Energy worth $15,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,604 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,297 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $13,165,000 after buying an additional 16,172 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 237,200 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $11,639,000 after buying an additional 1,893 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,388 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 149,576 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $7,340,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viper Energy Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of VNOM stock opened at $40.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 8.70 and a quick ratio of 8.70. The firm has a market cap of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.75. Viper Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $56.76.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.99 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 43.43% and a return on equity of 5.41%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VNOM has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

About Viper Energy

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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