Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Stock Position Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its Viper Energy stake by 14.5% in the first quarter, buying 52,423 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 414,750 shares worth about $19.5 million.
• Viper Energy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.55 versus estimates of $0.43 and revenue of $511 million, up 108.6% from a year ago.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with 14 Buy ratings and 2 Hold ratings, a consensus “Moderate Buy,” and an average price target of $57.54.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 414,750 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 52,423 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Viper Energy worth $19,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VNOM. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Viper Energy by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 46,559 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 4,411 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 4,839.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 42,381 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,523 shares during the period. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC increased its stake in Viper Energy by 4.7% during the first quarter. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC now owns 11,815 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Viper Energy during the first quarter valued at $235,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Viper Energy during the first quarter valued at $470,000. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VNOM opened at $44.86 on Wednesday. Viper Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.10 and a 1-year high of $51.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 6.17 and a quick ratio of 6.17. The business's fifty day moving average price is $44.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a PE ratio of -140.18 and a beta of 0.40.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $499.81 million. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 2.77% and a positive return on equity of 2.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 108.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -475.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VNOM. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viper Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.54.

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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