Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 41,094 Shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,478 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 41,094 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.30% of Berry worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Berry in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Berry in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Berry by 287.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,383 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Berry by 43.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,212 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 2,186 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Berry during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 94.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Berry from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Berry Price Performance

NASDAQ BRY opened at $4.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $325.46 million, a PE ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Berry Co. has a 52-week low of $4.10 and a 52-week high of $8.88.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The energy company reported $0.14 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $259.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Berry Co. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Berry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.11%.

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.