Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Makes New $898,000 Investment in Berry Corporation $BRY

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY) with 279,603 shares, valued at approximately $898,000, representing 0.36% ownership at the end of the last quarter.
• Berry Corporation recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.66 per share, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.01, with revenue reaching $210.08 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of 3.8% yield, although its dividend payout ratio is high at 171.43%.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 279,603 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $898,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.36% of Berry at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Berry by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,699,963 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $21,507,000 after purchasing an additional 719,845 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Berry by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,148,446 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,743,000 after acquiring an additional 557,842 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Berry by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 902,743 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,728,000 after buying an additional 510,512 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Berry in the 4th quarter worth $1,660,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Berry by 2,102.3% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 402,513 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,662,000 after buying an additional 384,236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Berry Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of BRY stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, reaching $3.31. 2,803,307 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 905,944. Berry Corporation has a 12-month low of $2.11 and a 12-month high of $5.90. 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 company has a market capitalization of $256.86 million, a P/E ratio of 47.29 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day moving average price is $3.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.96.

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

Berry Announces Dividend

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

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.