Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 391,688 Shares of Berry Corporation $BRY

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY) by 91.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 819,235 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 391,688 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 1.06% of Berry worth $2,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Berry in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Berry in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Berry in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Berry by 130.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,869 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 6,722 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Berry during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Berry Price Performance

NASDAQ BRY opened at $3.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.20. Berry Corporation has a one year low of $2.11 and a one year high of $5.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $266.98 million, a P/E ratio of -2.92 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Berry Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Berry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on BRY shares. Zacks Research raised Berry from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Berry in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Berry from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Berry from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Berry presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $4.00.

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.