Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Short Interest Down 17.2% in December

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the target of a large drop in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily volume of 1,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Trading of Berry

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Berry in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berry in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Berry by 390.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,643 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 10,066 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Berry by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 5,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Berry in the third quarter valued at $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Berry Stock Performance

Berry stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.00. 1,053,937 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 939,168. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.70 million, a PE ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $4.24 and its 200-day moving average is $5.27. Berry has a 12-month low of $3.72 and a 12-month high of $8.88.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last announced its earnings results 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Berry will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

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