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

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. TD Securities lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Viper Energy Price Performance

VNOM opened at $38.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 8.70 and a quick ratio of 8.70. The company has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a P/E/G ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.61. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $56.76.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.99 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 43.43% and a return on equity of 5.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,070 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $816,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 22,743 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.