Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Johnson Rice

Key Points

• Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Johnson Rice, with a price objective of $4.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.25% from its current price.
• The company exceeded analysts' expectations with $0.66 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly higher than the consensus estimate of $0.01.
• Institutional investors hold a significant stake in Berry, owning 94.88% of the company, with notable increases in holdings from American Century and Charles Schwab during the first quarter.

Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Johnson Rice currently has $4.00 target price on the energy company's stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Berry from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Berry from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Berry Stock Down 4.4%

BRY stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $3.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,179,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,197,217. Berry has a 1 year low of $2.11 and a 1 year high of $5.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $302.64 million, a P/E ratio of 55.71 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.96.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The energy company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.65. The company had revenue of $210.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.00 million. Berry had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 5.27%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Berry will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Berry's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berry

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Berry by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,699,963 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $21,507,000 after buying an additional 719,845 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Berry by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,466,851 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $6,833,000 after purchasing an additional 156,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Berry by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,313,904 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $6,411,000 after purchasing an additional 119,219 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Berry by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,546,044 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,283,000 after purchasing an additional 35,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Berry by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,543,544 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,955,000 after purchasing an additional 283,940 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.