Aristides Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 51,400 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000. Aristides Capital LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Berry at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in shares of Berry by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 1,958,864 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,090,000 after purchasing an additional 781,562 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Berry by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,980,118 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $24,698,000 after buying an additional 652,416 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Berry by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,403,588 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $9,927,000 after buying an additional 571,812 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Berry by 1,012.0% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 478,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,978,000 after buying an additional 435,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Berry by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 514,718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 245,216 shares during the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Berry Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRY opened at $2.37 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $183.00 million, a P/E ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.34. Berry Co. has a 52-week low of $2.29 and a 52-week high of $8.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.37.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The energy company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $167.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.00 million. Berry had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 9.40%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Berry Co. 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 Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, March 22nd were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.00%.

About Berry

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.