Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $54.00 to $57.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viper Energy traded as high as $52.43 and last traded at $52.24, with a volume of 93291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.63.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VNOM. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,481,119 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $326,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,603,333 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,410,968 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $246,566,000 after acquiring an additional 923,276 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,001,411 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $115,434,000 after acquiring an additional 496,131 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,085,841 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,282,000 after acquiring an additional 224,021 shares during the period. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 1,934,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $73,703,000 after acquiring an additional 634,036 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 7.06 and a current ratio of 7.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.17.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.19. Viper Energy had a net margin of 25.63% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $216.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 34.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is presently 41.10%.

About Viper Energy

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.