Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Buys New Position in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 201,897 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $834,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. owned about 0.26% of Berry as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Berry by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,101,825 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $8,681,000 after acquiring an additional 214,580 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Berry by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 514,718 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 245,216 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Berry by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 69,036 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 25,800 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Berry by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 272,686 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 72,566 shares during the period. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in shares of Berry by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 1,958,864 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $8,090,000 after acquiring an additional 781,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Johnson Rice raised 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. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,040,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,101,823. 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 12-month low of $2.11 and a 12-month high of $7.05. The firm has a market cap of $193.21 million, a PE ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.02. Berry had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $182.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $177.00 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Berry Co. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Berry's dividend 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.