Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Stock: Retirement Systems of Alabama Raises Position

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 532,618 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,344 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.15% of Viper Energy worth $21,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the second quarter worth about $1,675,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 24.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 795,347 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,373,000 after acquiring an additional 154,032 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 37.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 370,040 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,387,000 after acquiring an additional 100,193 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Viper Energy by 12.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 375,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $17,627,000 after acquiring an additional 41,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Viper Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,783,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Trading Up 2.3%

VNOM opened at $41.13 on Thursday. Viper Energy Inc. has a one year low of $35.10 and a one year high of $51.13. The company has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 5.92 and a current ratio of 5.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.43.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $661.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.18 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 4.24% and a net margin of 12.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 58.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VNOM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Viper Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.41.

Viper Energy Profile

Viper Energy, Inc. owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. Rather than serving primarily as a drilling operator, the company earns revenue from production on acreage where other companies conduct exploration and development. Its interests are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, including the Midland and Delaware sub-basins. Viper’s business is tied to activity by the operators that develop the underlying properties.