Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has initiated coverage on Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM), setting a "hold" rating and a price target of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.36% from its current price.
• Wells Fargo raised its price target for the stock from $48.00 to $49.00, contributing to a consensus target price of $54.07 among analysts who rate the stock as "Moderate Buy."
• Viper Energy reported better-than-expected earnings with a 37.1% year-over-year revenue increase, reporting $0.41 EPS for the quarter against a consensus estimate of $0.34.

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a "hold" rating and a $38.00 price target on the oil and gas producer's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 1.36% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on VNOM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. TD Securities set a $54.00 price objective on Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Roth Capital set a $50.00 price target on shares of Viper Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.07.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $37.49 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.98. The company has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.92. Viper Energy has a twelve month low of $34.71 and a twelve month high of $56.76. 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 (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $297.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 37.84% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 37.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Viper Energy by 28.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $587,708,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921,832 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 12.2% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 1,301,933 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 21.6% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 1,778,093 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,197,538 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $198,182,000 after purchasing an additional 148,503 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,802,730 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $145,021,000 after purchasing an additional 235,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

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.

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