Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Viper Energy has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, highlighting concerns about its future performance.
• Despite the downgrade, analysts show mixed opinions with one sell rating and thirteen buy ratings, resulting in an average target price of $57.15 for the stock.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.41, exceeding estimates, while its revenue increased by 37.1% year-over-year.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Securities lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Viper Energy from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.15.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $37.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.53. The company has a current ratio of 6.15, a quick ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Viper Energy has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $56.76.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $297.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.35 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 37.84%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 37.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $587,708,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921,832 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,996,351 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $451,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,093 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 763.4% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,799,642 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $81,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591,212 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,953,910 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $539,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,973,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

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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