Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Short Interest Update

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in 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. Based on an average trading volume of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Berry news, CEO Fernando Araujo sold 33,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total transaction of $211,169.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,573,939.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BRY. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Berry during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Berry during the second quarter worth about $27,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Berry by 287.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,383 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berry during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Berry Stock Performance

BRY traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.22. 952,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,046,081. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.62 million, a P/E ratio of 512.00 and a beta of 1.72. Berry has a 1-year low of $4.82 and a 1-year high of $8.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Berry Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.