Viking Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY)

Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Berry Co. (NASDAQ:BRY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,000 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Berry by 211.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in shares of Berry in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Berry during the third quarter valued at $66,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Berry in the 4th quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berry during the 3rd quarter worth about $131,000. Institutional investors own 94.88% of the company’s stock.

Berry Price Performance

Shares of Berry stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $6.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 663,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,066,911. Berry Co. has a one year low of $6.07 and a one year high of $8.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $496.26 million, a P/E ratio of 634.00 and a beta of 1.74.

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). Berry had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. Berry’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Berry Co. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berry Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Berry’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,800.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.