Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 3,691 Shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its position in shares of Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,668 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 3,691 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Berry were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in Berry by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 711,750 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,004,000 after buying an additional 33,309 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Berry by 17.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Berry by 2,942.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,039,356 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,195 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Berry during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $884,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Berry by 1,114.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 24,101 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 22,116 shares in the last quarter. 94.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Berry Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:BRY opened at $8.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $672.46 million, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 1.80. Berry Co. has a 1-year low of $6.22 and a 1-year high of $8.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The energy company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $216.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.28 million. Berry had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 4.14%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Berry Co. will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Berry Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is a positive change from Berry’s previous None dividend of $0.21. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.35%.

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.