Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Short Interest Down 50.7% in March

Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a drop of 50.7% from the February 29th total of 4,180,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 975,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM opened at $37.86 on Thursday. Viper Energy has a 1-year low of $24.48 and a 1-year high of $38.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.34 and its 200-day moving average is $31.32. The company has a current ratio of 4.32, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $204.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.61 million. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 24.17%. Viper Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.56 dividend. This is a positive change from Viper Energy’s previous None dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a yield of 3%. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VNOM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Viper Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Viper Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Viper Energy from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.58.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,490,896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $423,344,000 after buying an additional 2,246,219 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 1,045.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,877,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $215,825,000 after buying an additional 6,277,324 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Viper Energy by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,487,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $172,204,000 after purchasing an additional 369,463 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Viper Energy by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,505,280 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its position in Viper Energy by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,446,218 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $65,632,000 after purchasing an additional 784,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties primarily 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.