Short Interest in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Declines By 13.1%

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, a decrease of 13.1% from the October 15th total of 2,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRY traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.28. 1,335,978 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,066,382. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $5.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.11. Berry has a 1 year low of $4.16 and a 1 year high of $8.88. The company has a market cap of $329.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.72.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 6.50%. The firm had revenue of $259.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Berry will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Berry's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Berry from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Berry

In related news, CEO Fernando Araujo sold 33,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,573,939.90. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Berry

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

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.