Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 13,204,484 shares, a decrease of 18.6% from the February 26th total of 16,215,759 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,689,858 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VNOM. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Viper Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.27.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM stock traded up $0.41 on Tuesday, reaching $47.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,603,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,329,335. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -204.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.48. Viper Energy has a 12 month low of $34.71 and a 12 month high of $49.08.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $415.51 million. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 4.87%.Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 87.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viper Energy will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -660.87%.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 38.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 13,218 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Viper Energy by 264.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,872,000 after purchasing an additional 174,684 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,499 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,233,000 after buying an additional 37,847 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Viper Energy by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,865 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Viper Energy by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,492 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 4,833 shares in the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by 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.