Walleye Capital LLC Takes Position in Berry Corporation $BRY

Key Points

• Walleye Capital LLC acquired 147,920 shares of Berry Corporation valued at approximately $475,000, increasing institutional ownership to 94.88% of the stock.
• Berry Corporation's stock is currently rated a "Moderate Buy"** with a price target of $4.00, despite recent analyst downgrades.
• The company reported earnings of $0.66 per share for the last quarter, significantly beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, yielding 3.6%.

Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 147,920 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $475,000. Walleye Capital LLC owned 0.19% of Berry at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Berry by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,699,963 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $21,507,000 after acquiring an additional 719,845 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Berry by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,310,008 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $7,415,000 after acquiring an additional 208,183 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Berry by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,543,544 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,955,000 after acquiring an additional 283,940 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Berry by 94.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Berry by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 902,743 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,728,000 after acquiring an additional 510,512 shares during the period. 94.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Johnson Rice upgraded Berry from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Berry from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Berry from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of BRY traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.21. 492,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,644. The company has a market capitalization of $249.10 million, a PE ratio of 45.86 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.97. Berry Corporation has a one year low of $2.11 and a one year high of $5.90.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The energy company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.65. The business had revenue of $210.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.00 million. Berry had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 0.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Berry Corporation will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Berry's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

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.