Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 271,337 Shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

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

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VNOM. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Viper Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $1,701,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Viper Energy by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 302,575 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $13,661,000 after purchasing an additional 65,375 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 59,901 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 10,529 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 25,600 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 7,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 6,591.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 91,068 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,112,000 after acquiring an additional 89,707 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VNOM shares. Bank of America cut 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. KeyCorp cut their target price on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.00.

Viper Energy Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:VNOM traded down $0.57 on Wednesday, reaching $36.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,267,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,420,212. Viper Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $56.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 8.70 and a current ratio of 8.70. The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 18.00 and a beta of 0.97. The business's 50-day moving average price is $39.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.38.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.99 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 5.41% and a net margin of 43.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Viper Energy's payout ratio is presently 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.