Virtus Advisers LLC Raises Position in Berry Corporation $BRY

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC significantly increased its stake in Berry Corporation by acquiring an additional 190,244 shares, bringing its total holdings to 222,934 shares, which represents about 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Berry Corporation recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with $0.66 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.01, and achieved revenues of $210.08 million against estimates of $155.00 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.0%, despite a high payout ratio of 171.43%.

Virtus Advisers LLC grew its position in Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) by 582.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 222,934 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 190,244 shares during the quarter. Berry comprises approximately 0.9% of Virtus Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Virtus Advisers LLC owned about 0.29% of Berry worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Berry in the first quarter worth $475,000. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Berry by 20.0% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 111,120 shares of the energy company's stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 18,550 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Berry in the first quarter worth $27,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Berry by 9.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,310,008 shares of the energy company's stock worth $7,415,000 after purchasing an additional 208,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tejara Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Berry by 12.7% during the first quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 311,049 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 35,163 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of BRY stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3.34. 627,408 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,018,377. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.02 and a 200 day moving average of $3.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Berry Corporation has a 52-week low of $2.11 and a 52-week high of $6.34. The company has a market cap of $259.18 million, a PE ratio of 47.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The energy company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $210.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.00 million. Research analysts anticipate that Berry Corporation will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. 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 is presently 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.