StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Viper Energy Partners (NASDAQ:VNOM)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Viper Energy Partners (NASDAQ:VNOM – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on VNOM. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Viper Energy Partners from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Viper Energy Partners from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Viper Energy Partners from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. TheStreet lowered Viper Energy Partners from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Viper Energy Partners in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $37.11.

Viper Energy Partners Price Performance

VNOM opened at $27.03 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 5.41 and a quick ratio of 5.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 1.89. Viper Energy Partners has a 1 year low of $23.51 and a 1 year high of $36.10.

Viper Energy Partners (NASDAQ:VNOM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Viper Energy Partners had a return on equity of 6.38% and a net margin of 17.50%. The firm had revenue of $203.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Viper Energy Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Viper Energy Partners will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.25%. Viper Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.75%.

Insider Activity at Viper Energy Partners

In related news, Director Spencer D. Armour III acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.44 per share, for a total transaction of $105,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,118.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Spencer D. Armour III acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.44 per share, for a total transaction of $105,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $955,118.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 205,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total value of $6,781,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,844,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $324,859,524. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Viper Energy Partners by 305.5% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 38,256 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 28,821 shares during the period. Natixis boosted its stake in Viper Energy Partners by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 586,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $18,629,000 after purchasing an additional 293,000 shares during the period. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Viper Energy Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,000. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Viper Energy Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $518,334,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in Viper Energy Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $264,000. 40.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Viper Energy Partners

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Viper Energy Partners LP engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.