Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

VNOM has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. TD increased their target price on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Johnson Rice began coverage on Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “accumulate” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.56.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $45.85 on Monday. Viper Energy has a 1 year low of $35.10 and a 1 year high of $51.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 6.37 and a quick ratio of 6.37. The company has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.30 and a 200-day moving average of $44.40.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Viper Energy had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 3.43%. The business had revenue of $677.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 127.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VNOM. QV Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 36.9% during the third quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 48,195 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 12,980 shares during the last quarter. Womack Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 7.7% during the third quarter. Womack Financial LLC now owns 11,634 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 34.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,431 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 131.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 21,399 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 12,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the third quarter worth about $247,000. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VNOM) owns mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties, primarily in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico. The company’s interests are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware basins, two of the most active producing regions in the United States.

Viper generally does not operate wells or directly conduct drilling and completion activities. Instead, it leases its mineral interests to exploration and production companies and receives royalty, overriding royalty and other mineral-related payments from the sale of hydrocarbons produced on those properties.