Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,860,000 shares, an increase of 42.4% from the June 30th total of 2,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 918,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Viper Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,013 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,158 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sandia Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Viper Energy from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. TD Securities upped their price target on Viper Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Viper Energy from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Viper Energy from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viper Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.71.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM traded down $0.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.48. 224,482 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 940,607. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.46. Viper Energy has a 52-week low of $26.71 and a 52-week high of $43.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.84. The company has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 1.74.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.15. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 24.24%. The firm had revenue of $205.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.63 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viper Energy will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous None dividend of $0.56. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.71%.

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.