Plato Investment Management Ltd Increases Stake in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 119.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,834 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,541 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,102 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 14.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,119 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,962 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Viper Energy in the second quarter valued at $470,000. SIR Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Viper Energy by 26.5% in the second quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 776,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,153,000 after buying an additional 162,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Viper Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,181,000. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on VNOM. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $44.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.17.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $43.32 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.06. The firm has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.73. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.73 and a 12-month high of $49.37. The company has a current ratio of 7.06, a quick ratio of 7.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.19. Viper Energy had a net margin of 25.63% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $216.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.28 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Viper Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin, North America. Viper Energy Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Viper Energy Partners LP and changed its name to Viper Energy, Inc in November 2023.