Wall Street Zen Upgrades Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) from a "sell" to a "hold", while the broader analyst mix remains bullish—14 Buys and 2 Holds—yielding a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.43.
• Viper beat expectations last quarter with $0.31 EPS (vs. $0.27 est.) and $435M revenue (vs. $415.5M est.), with revenue up 87.6% year-over-year, but it still reported a negative net margin (-4.87%) and a negative P/E.
• Viper is a Permian Basin-focused royalty MLP with a market cap of about $15.85 billion, trading near $44 (52-week range $34.71–$48.00) and about 87.7% institutional ownership.

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VNOM. Citigroup raised their price target on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.43.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Viper Energy stock opened at $44.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.20. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $48.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -191.73 and a beta of 0.48.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. Viper Energy had a negative net margin of 4.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $415.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VNOM. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Viper Energy in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 48.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently 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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