Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) Now Covered by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $51.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

VNOM has been the subject of a number of other reports. KeyCorp upgraded Viper Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective (down from $64.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $43.30 on Friday. Viper Energy has a 12 month low of $35.46 and a 12 month high of $56.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.17. The company has a current ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 1.69.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is presently 32.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,094,960 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $495,360,000 after buying an additional 239,404 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,964,130 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 310,890 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 78.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,682,183 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 20.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 389,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Viper Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,505,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Company Profile

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.