Wells Fargo & Company Initiates Coverage on Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) in a report published on Friday morning, 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 topic 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 objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price objective (down from $64.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Viper Energy from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $72.00 price objective on Viper Energy in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.00.

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Viper Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ VNOM traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 967,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,784. The firm has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Viper Energy has a 52 week low of $35.46 and a 52 week high of $56.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.16.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.65 dividend. 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 currently 32.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viper Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,094,960 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $495,360,000 after purchasing an additional 239,404 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,964,130 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 310,890 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,682,183 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 389,473 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $95,505,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

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.