QV Investors Inc. Makes New $879,000 Investment in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

QV Investors Inc. purchased a new position in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 23,005 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,801 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Viper Energy by 16.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 48.7% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 9.7% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,117 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 4.4% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,902 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Viper Energy stock opened at $39.28 on Friday. Viper Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $52.03. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 23.98 and a beta of 0.48.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. Viper Energy had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 3.09%. The company had revenue of $418.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 98.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VNOM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.80.

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.