Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Short Interest Update

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,863,078 shares, a decrease of 26.0% from the March 31st total of 10,627,731 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,855,129 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC lifted its position in Viper Energy by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC now owns 11,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Viper Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Bernzott Capital Advisors lifted its position in Viper Energy by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors now owns 137,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,472,000 after acquiring an additional 22,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Viper Energy by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,849 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VNOM shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $49.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.36. Viper Energy has a 52 week low of $35.10 and a 52 week high of $49.56. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -214.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.50.

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. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 4.87%.The firm had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $415.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viper Energy will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is currently -660.87%.

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.