Berry Corporation $BRY Stock Holdings Cut by Virtus Advisers LLC

Virtus Advisers LLC cut its position in shares of Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY) by 91.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,856 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 203,078 shares during the quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC’s holdings in Berry were worth $55,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Berry by 2.9% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 157,429 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Berry by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,720 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 4,670 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Berry by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 126,995 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Berry by 130.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,869 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 6,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Berry by 2.5% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 274,187 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 6,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of BRY opened at $3.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $262.32 million, a PE ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $3.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Berry Corporation has a twelve month low of $2.11 and a twelve month high of $5.09.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The energy company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.50 million. Berry had a positive return on equity of 2.95% and a negative net margin of 12.42%. As a group, research analysts expect that Berry Corporation will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. Berry’s payout ratio is currently -10.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRY has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Berry from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Johnson Rice cut shares of Berry from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Berry from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Berry in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $4.00.

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.