Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Raises Dividend to $0.38 Per Share

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.38 per share by the oil and gas producer on Thursday, March 12th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is a 15.2% increase from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

Viper Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Viper Energy has a payout ratio of 73.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Viper Energy to earn $1.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 69.5%.

Viper Energy Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of VNOM traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.91. 685,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,446,662. The company has a market cap of $16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 28.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.74. Viper Energy has a 52 week low of $34.71 and a 52 week high of $48.23.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 20.62%.Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VNOM. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $608,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Viper Energy by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 303,909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,588,000 after buying an additional 39,867 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 190.4% during the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 59,960 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,292,000 after acquiring an additional 39,315 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the second quarter valued at about $505,000. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 140.6% in the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 48,760 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 28,498 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.