Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,760,000 shares, a drop of 8.0% from the September 15th total of 3,000,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Berry from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRY traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 952,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,046,081. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.65. The company has a market cap of $401.62 million, a P/E ratio of 512.00 and a beta of 1.72. Berry has a 12-month low of $4.82 and a 12-month high of $8.91.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The energy company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). Berry had a positive return on equity of 6.69% and a negative net margin of 4.19%. The company had revenue of $197.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.38 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Berry will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Berry’s payout ratio is presently 4,800.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Berry news, CEO Fernando Araujo sold 33,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total transaction of $211,169.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,573,939.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Berry during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Berry during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Berry by 287.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,383 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berry in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Berry by 43.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,212 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares during the period. 94.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.