D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Makes New $1.66 Million Investment in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

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

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Berry in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Berry by 54.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,114 shares of the energy company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its stake in Berry by 149.7% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 13,780 shares of the energy company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 8,261 shares during the last quarter. RPO LLC bought a new stake in Berry in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Berry in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. 94.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Berry Stock Performance

BRY remained flat at $2.49 during midday trading on Friday. 1,040,538 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,102,380. The company has a market capitalization of $193.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Berry Co. has a twelve month low of $2.11 and a twelve month high of $7.03. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $2.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.70.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.02. Berry had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 6.50%. The company had revenue of $182.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $177.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Berry Co. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.82%. Berry's payout ratio is currently -25.53%.

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.