Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Short Interest Down 22.9% in May

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,940,000 shares, a drop of 22.9% from the May 15th total of 5,110,000 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, TheStreet raised shares of Berry from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Berry by 2,942.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,039,356 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,195 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Berry by 136.5% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,528,863 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $10,748,000 after acquiring an additional 882,441 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Berry during the fourth quarter worth about $3,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Berry by 64.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,085,554 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,902,000 after purchasing an additional 425,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Berry by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,323,216 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 356,525 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Berry Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of BRY traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $6.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 747,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,221,856. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $475.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 618.00 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.24. Berry has a fifty-two week low of $6.12 and a fifty-two week high of $8.94.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $202.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.65 million. Berry had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Berry will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is 4,800.00%.

Berry Company Profile

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.