Short Interest in Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY) Grows By 5.5%

Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the September 30th total of 4,190,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 757,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Insider Transactions at Berry Global Group

In related news, Director Evan Bayh sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.13, for a total transaction of $981,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,228 shares in the company, valued at $2,119,889.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BERY. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Berry Global Group by 16.7% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 13,548,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $819,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934,137 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Berry Global Group by 10.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,931,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $782,070,000 after buying an additional 1,200,021 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Berry Global Group by 30.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,472,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $204,365,000 after buying an additional 807,211 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Berry Global Group by 280.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 798,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,968,000 after buying an additional 588,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Berry Global Group by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 2,714,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $159,751,000 after acquiring an additional 492,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BERY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Berry Global Group from $89.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Berry Global Group from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Berry Global Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Berry Global Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Berry Global Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.22.

Berry Global Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:BERY traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.51. 379,379 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 979,761. Berry Global Group has a one year low of $54.06 and a one year high of $71.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.19. The company has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Berry Global Group (NYSE:BERY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.16. Berry Global Group had a return on equity of 27.32% and a net margin of 4.55%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Berry Global Group will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Berry Global Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Berry Global Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Berry Global Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.50%.

About Berry Global Group

Berry Global Group, Inc manufactures and supplies non-woven, flexible, and rigid products in consumer and industrial end markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Consumer Packaging International; Consumer Packaging North America; Engineered Materials; and Health, Hygiene & Specialties segments.