Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 323,855 Shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY - Free Report) by 441.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 397,155 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 323,855 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.52% of Berry worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Berry by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,980,118 shares of the energy company's stock worth $24,698,000 after buying an additional 652,416 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Berry by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,729,339 shares of the energy company's stock worth $11,682,000 after purchasing an additional 35,728 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Berry by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,403,588 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $9,927,000 after purchasing an additional 571,812 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Berry by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,101,825 shares of the energy company's stock worth $8,681,000 after purchasing an additional 214,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council increased its position in Berry by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 1,958,864 shares of the energy company's stock worth $8,090,000 after buying an additional 781,562 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company's stock.

Berry Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ BRY traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.48. 881,672 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,139,518. The company has a market capitalization of $192.44 million, a P/E ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.00. Berry Co. has a 12 month low of $2.11 and a 12 month high of $8.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The energy company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.09. Berry had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $167.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Berry Co. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Berry Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 22nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Berry's payout ratio is presently 48.00%.

Berry 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.