Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) by 94.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,148,446 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 557,842 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 1.49% of Berry worth $4,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BRY. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Berry by 92.1% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 27,487 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 13,182 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Berry by 210.7% in the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 154,569 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 104,824 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Berry by 117.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 75,744 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 40,871 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Berry in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,660,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Berry by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 490,468 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,026,000 after buying an additional 116,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company's stock.

Berry Trading Down 2.7%

NASDAQ BRY traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 192,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,100,264. Berry Co. has a 52-week low of $2.11 and a 52-week high of $7.33. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $2.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.09 million, a P/E ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $182.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.00 million. Berry had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 6.50%. Research analysts expect that Berry Co. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. Berry's dividend payout ratio is currently -25.53%.

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.