Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 19,940 Shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 361,027 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 19,940 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Berry worth $2,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Berry by 211.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,653 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Berry during the first quarter worth about $40,000. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in Berry during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Berry in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Berry by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,572 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Berry Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BRY traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.46. The company had a trading volume of 206,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,086. The company has a market capitalization of $497.03 million, a PE ratio of 647.00 and a beta of 1.77. Berry Co. has a one year low of $6.07 and a one year high of $8.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.65 million. Berry had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Berry Co. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Berry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,800.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.