Trexquant Investment LP Cuts Stake in Berry Corporation $BRY

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in Berry Corporation by 44.2% in Q1, selling 313,423 shares, and now holds approximately 0.51% of the company.
• Berry Corporation's stock received mixed ratings, with one analyst upgrading it to a "buy" while another downgraded it to a "sell", and its consensus target price is currently set at $4.00.
• Berry announced a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, resulting in a 3.7% dividend yield, but has a high dividend payout ratio of 171.43%.

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its stake in shares of Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) by 44.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 395,119 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 313,423 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.51% of Berry worth $1,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRY. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Berry during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Berry during the first quarter worth $34,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 130.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,869 shares of the energy company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 6,722 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berry during the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Berry by 103.3% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 14,050 shares of the energy company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 7,140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company's stock.

Berry Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of BRY traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,225,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,014,928. 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 cap of $258.80 million, a P/E ratio of 47.64 and a beta of 1.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $3.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.97. Berry Corporation has a 12-month low of $2.11 and a 12-month high of $5.90.

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

Berry Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Berry's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Johnson Rice upgraded Berry from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Berry from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Berry from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Berry currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.00.

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.