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

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a drop of 17.2% from the December 15th total of 1,340,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Berry Stock Performance

BRY stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.00. 1,053,937 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 939,168. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.70 million, a PE ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.27. Berry has a 52 week low of $3.72 and a 52 week high of $8.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The energy company reported $0.14 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $259.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. Berry’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Berry will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BRY. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Berry by 39.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 260,111 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after buying an additional 73,064 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 9.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,462 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Berry by 23.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,664,292 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $10,751,000 after purchasing an additional 318,223 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Berry during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Berry during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,719,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

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.