D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Buys New Shares in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 401,927 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $1,660,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.52% of Berry at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Berry during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Berry by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,114 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 4,294 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management increased its position in Berry by 149.7% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 13,780 shares of the energy company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 8,261 shares in the last quarter. RPO LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berry in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Berry in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company's stock.

Berry Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of BRY traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $2.54. 645,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,100,551. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.09 million, a P/E ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Berry Co. has a 1 year low of $2.11 and a 1 year high of $7.03. The stock's 50 day moving average is $2.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.66.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 9.40%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Berry Co. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. Berry's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -25.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Johnson Rice raised shares of Berry from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

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.