Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Takes $834,000 Position in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 201,897 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRY. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Berry by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,183 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,714 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Berry by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,114 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 4,294 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Berry by 1.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 269,502 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 4,686 shares during the last quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Berry by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 32,690 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Berry during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Berry Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BRY opened at $2.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Berry Co. has a twelve month low of $2.11 and a twelve month high of $7.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.77.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $182.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.00 million. Berry had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 6.50%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Berry Co. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. Berry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -25.53%.

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.