Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 4,408,972 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 2,649,531 shares.The stock last traded at $45.8810 and had previously closed at $47.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VNOM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Securities upped their price objective on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.43.

Viper Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -197.12 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.03.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $415.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -573.91%.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VNOM. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 48.7% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

About Viper Energy

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.