Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) Price Target Cut to $5.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) had its price target cut by Piper Sandler from $7.00 to $5.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the energy company's stock.

Berry Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRY traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $4.37. 1,662,318 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,069,054. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.08. The company has a market cap of $336.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Berry has a 52 week low of $4.16 and a 52 week high of $8.88.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The energy company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Berry had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $259.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Berry will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Berry's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Berry news, CEO Fernando Araujo sold 33,950 shares of Berry stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total value of $211,169.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,573,939.90. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berry

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Berry by 29.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 83,338 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,359,786 shares of the energy company's stock worth $35,096,000 after buying an additional 77,487 shares during the period. Huber Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berry during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,749,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Berry by 83.8% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 27,508 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 12,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Berry by 123.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 17,383 shares of the energy company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 9,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company's stock.

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.