Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Short Interest Update

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a decrease of 17.2% from the December 15th total of 1,340,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Berry from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berry

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Berry during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Berry during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Berry by 390.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,643 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 10,066 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Berry by 40.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 5,115 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Berry during the third quarter worth $106,000. 94.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Berry Price Performance

NASDAQ BRY traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5.00. 1,053,937 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 939,168. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.24 and a 200-day moving average of $5.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Berry has a one year low of $3.72 and a one year high of $8.88. The stock has a market cap of $384.70 million, a PE ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 1.64.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The energy company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Berry had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 6.50%. The company had revenue of $259.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.67 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. Berry’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Berry will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is 11.11%.

About Berry

Berry Petroleum Company, LLC., formerly Berry Petroleum Company, is an independent energy company. The Company is engaged in the production, development, exploitation, and acquisition of oil and natural gas. The Company’s principal reserves and producing properties are located in California (South Midway-Sunset (SMWSS)-Steam Floods, North Midway-Sunset (NMWSS)-Diatomite, NMWSS-New Steam Floods, Texas (Permian and E.