Short Interest in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Expands By 21.1%

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,780,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 28th total of 1,470,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 999,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Berry Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BRY traded down $0.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $2.35. 696,564 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,107,034. The company has a market cap of $181.07 million, a PE ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.34. Berry has a 52-week low of $2.29 and a 52-week high of $8.88. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.83 and a 200 day moving average of $4.37.

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

Berry Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. Berry's payout ratio is 48.00%.

Institutional Trading of Berry

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BRY. South Dakota Investment Council increased its position in shares of Berry by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 1,958,864 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $8,090,000 after purchasing an additional 781,562 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP lifted its stake in Berry by 964.4% in the fourth quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 835,592 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 757,087 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Berry by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,980,118 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $24,698,000 after acquiring an additional 652,416 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Berry by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,403,588 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $9,927,000 after purchasing an additional 571,812 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Berry by 94.5% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,148,446 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,743,000 after purchasing an additional 557,842 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.