Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) receives a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 17 brokerages, with 15 analysts recommending to buy and two suggesting to hold.
• Viper Energy recently reported a quarterly earnings of $0.41 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.34, and achieved a revenue increase of 37.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, translating to an annual yield of 5.7%, although it has cut the dividend recently.

Shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.0667.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VNOM. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viper Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. TD Securities set a $54.00 price target on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Viper Energy by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $587,708,000 after buying an additional 2,921,832 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Viper Energy by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,996,351 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $451,336,000 after buying an additional 1,778,093 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in Viper Energy by 763.4% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,799,642 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $81,254,000 after buying an additional 1,591,212 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Viper Energy by 12.2% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Viper Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,973,000. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viper Energy Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $37.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 6.15, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Viper Energy has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $56.76. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $38.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.99.

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

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.15%.

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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