Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research lowered shares of Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Johnson Rice cut Berry from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Berry from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Berry from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Berry from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $4.00.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of BRY stock opened at $3.33 on Monday. Berry has a twelve month low of $2.11 and a twelve month high of $5.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.57 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last issued its earnings results 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. Berry had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 0.60%.The business had revenue of $210.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.00 million. On average, analysts predict that Berry will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berry Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Berry by 13.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,745 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Berry by 2.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 157,429 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 4,473 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Berry by 38.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,720 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 4,670 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Berry by 13.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 41,724 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Berry by 51.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,398 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 5,547 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.