Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Short Interest Down 14.8% in February

Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,200,000 shares, a decrease of 14.8% from the February 13th total of 7,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,610,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VNOM. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $95,505,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 78.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,833,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $172,918,000 after buying an additional 1,682,183 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the third quarter valued at $18,044,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $19,469,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,309,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $113,324,000 after buying an additional 389,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $45.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.24 and its 200-day moving average is $49.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 7.24 and a current ratio of 7.24. Viper Energy has a 52 week low of $35.46 and a 52 week high of $56.76.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Viper Energy’s previous dividend of $0.22. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is 32.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc 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.