Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Stock

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) had its price objective raised by analysts at Citigroup from $52.00 to $57.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.37% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on VNOM. Wall Street Zen raised Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. TD Securities boosted their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho raised their price target on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

Viper Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ VNOM traded up $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $46.96. 2,085,035 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,337,190. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.04. The company has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -204.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Viper Energy has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $49.08.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $435.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $415.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oaktree Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Viper Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $240,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,906,846 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $646,180,000 after acquiring an additional 3,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,423,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $474,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,417 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 452.4% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,661,991 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $63,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viper Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $52,087,000. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.