Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) by 5.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 361,027 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 19,940 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Berry were worth $2,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Berry by 211.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berry in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in Berry during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Berry during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Berry by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,572 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, TheStreet raised shares of Berry from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th.

Berry Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:BRY traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $6.46. 206,348 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,057,086. The company has a market capitalization of $497.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 647.00 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.18. Berry Co. has a twelve month low of $6.07 and a twelve month high of $8.94.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.65 million. Berry had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Berry Co. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.43%. Berry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,800.00%.

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.