Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) Shares Down 6.5%

Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)’s share price fell 6.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $6.52 and last traded at $6.52. 573,588 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 1,067,136 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Berry Trading Down 0.5 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.41 million, a PE ratio of 626.00 and a beta of 1.74.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). Berry had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.65 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Berry Co. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.66%. Berry’s payout ratio is currently 4,800.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berry

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Berry by 211.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berry in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berry in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Berry in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Berry in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $105,000. 94.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.