Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stake in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 33.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,653 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNOM. Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,611,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new position in Viper Energy during the second quarter worth about $267,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the second quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Viper Energy during the second quarter worth about $5,856,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $45.45 on Friday. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.73 and a 52 week high of $49.37. The company has a current ratio of 7.06, a quick ratio of 7.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.19. The stock has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 1.73.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $216.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.28 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 25.63% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VNOM. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $44.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.17.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin, North America. Viper Energy Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Viper Energy Partners LP and changed its name to Viper Energy, Inc in November 2023.