Meros Investment Management LP Has $8.57 Million Stake in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Meros Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) by 14.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,326,707 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,718 shares during the period. Berry makes up about 4.1% of Meros Investment Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Meros Investment Management LP’s holdings in Berry were worth $8,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRY. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Berry in the second quarter worth $25,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Berry in the second quarter worth $27,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Berry by 287.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,383 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Berry in the first quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Berry by 43.5% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,212 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 2,186 shares during the period. 94.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Berry from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

Berry Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Berry stock opened at $4.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $373.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 485.00 and a beta of 1.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.89. Berry Co. has a fifty-two week low of $4.82 and a fifty-two week high of $8.91.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The energy company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Berry had a negative net margin of 4.19% and a positive return on equity of 6.69%. The company had revenue of $197.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Berry Co. will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berry Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is 4,800.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Fernando Araujo sold 33,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total value of $211,169.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,573,939.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.