American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 214,580 Shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,101,825 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 214,580 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.73% of Berry worth $8,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Berry by 1.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 269,502 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 4,686 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Berry by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the energy company's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 5,115 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Berry in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its stake in Berry by 149.7% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 13,780 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 8,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Berry in the third quarter valued at $47,000. 94.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRY traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.17. 2,021,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,115,218. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $3.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.31. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $2.11 and a 12 month high of $8.88. The firm has a market cap of $167.56 million, a PE ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.34.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The energy company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $167.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.00 million. Berry had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 9.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Berry Co. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 22nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.53%. Berry's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.00%.

Berry 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.