Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Viper Energy's stock reached a new 52-week high of $49.37 (last around $49.26) and carries a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $55 after several firms raised targets.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.31 versus $0.27 expected and revenue of $435 million, a 87.6% year‑over‑year increase.
• Viper increased its quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, ~3.1% yield) and the stock is largely institutionally owned (~87.7%).

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $49.37 and last traded at $49.2620, with a volume of 230420 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $55.00.

Viper Energy Trading Up 1.0%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -214.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 4.87%.The firm had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $415.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Viper Energy's quarterly revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Viper Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently -660.87%.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VNOM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Viper Energy in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Viper Energy in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 503.3% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 68.3% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viper Energy Company 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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