Quadrature Capital Ltd Makes New Investment in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,969 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Berry during the fourth quarter worth approximately $348,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 237,759 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,671,000 after buying an additional 2,006 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 211.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 2,653 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 1,407.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 380,967 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,678,000 after buying an additional 355,688 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,537,851 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $31,902,000 after buying an additional 284,757 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Berry Price Performance

NASDAQ:BRY opened at $6.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $497.03 million, a P/E ratio of 646.00 and a beta of 1.74. Berry Co. has a one year low of $6.07 and a one year high of $8.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $7.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.19. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.65 million. Berry had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 6.15%. Berry’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Berry Co. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

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

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.