Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, an increase of 8.8% from the March 15th total of 4,670,000 shares. Approximately 6.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Berry

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BRY. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 599,135 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,183,000 after buying an additional 10,668 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Berry during the 1st quarter worth $1,061,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 36,618 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 13,057 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Berry by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 101,052 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in Berry by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 4,554 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Berry Stock Down 1.8 %

BRY stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $8.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 509,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,003,437. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $637.83 million, a PE ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 1.80. Berry has a 12 month low of $6.22 and a 12 month high of $8.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.34.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The energy company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $216.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.28 million. Berry had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 4.14%. The business’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Berry will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a yield of 6.7%. This is an increase from Berry’s previous None dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Berry’s payout ratio is currently 104.35%.

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.