Short Interest in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Expands By 27.7%

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,000,000 shares, a growth of 27.7% from the August 31st total of 2,350,000 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 945,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Berry Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRY traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5.03. The stock had a trading volume of 934,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,032,243. The firm has a market cap of $387.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 503.00 and a beta of 1.73. Berry has a fifty-two week low of $4.82 and a fifty-two week high of $8.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.97 and a 200-day moving average of $6.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The energy company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $197.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.38 million. Berry had a positive return on equity of 6.69% and a negative net margin of 4.19%. Berry’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Berry will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.54%. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4,800.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Berry news, CEO Fernando Araujo sold 33,950 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,573,939.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berry

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Berry in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Berry during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Berry by 287.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,383 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Berry during the first quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Berry by 43.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,212 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Berry from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

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.