Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting growing concerns about the company's performance.
• Piper Sandler has also reduced their target price for Berry shares from $5.00 to $4.00, while Johnson Rice upgraded their rating from "accumulate" to "buy" on a different occasion.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings with a $0.66 EPS, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.01, and posted revenues of $210.08 million, surpassing estimates of $155.00 million.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BRY. Johnson Rice raised shares of Berry from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Berry from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th.

Berry Stock Performance

Shares of BRY stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2.83. 197,503 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,025,059. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.22 million, a P/E ratio of 40.36 and a beta of 1.12. Berry has a 52 week low of $2.11 and a 52 week high of $6.64. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $3.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.15.

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

Institutional Trading of Berry

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BRY. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Berry by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 51,988 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 12,437 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Berry by 137.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 109,783 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 63,553 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Berry by 2.5% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 274,187 shares of the energy company's stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 6,738 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Berry during the second quarter worth approximately $302,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Berry by 91.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 819,235 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,269,000 after buying an additional 391,688 shares during the period. 94.88% of the stock is currently 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.