Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Has $70.12 Million Stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 21.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,552,974 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 271,337 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned approximately 0.73% of Viper Energy worth $70,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VNOM. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Viper Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,469,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,309,425 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $113,324,000 after acquiring an additional 389,473 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 164.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 576,637 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $28,296,000 after acquiring an additional 358,487 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,964,130 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $194,520,000 after acquiring an additional 310,890 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 1,589,404 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $77,992,000 after acquiring an additional 268,959 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viper Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of Viper Energy stock traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.57. 2,036,641 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,412,667. 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 $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 0.97. Viper Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.71 and a 52 week high of $56.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.53.

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

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy's payout ratio is 31.58%.

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.