American Trust Trims Stake in Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY)

American Trust lowered its holdings in Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 689 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Berry Global Group were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Berry Global Group by 29.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 434,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,598,000 after purchasing an additional 99,856 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Berry Global Group by 38.6% in the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 296,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,477,000 after purchasing an additional 82,608 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its position in Berry Global Group by 66.7% in the first quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 50,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Berry Global Group in the 1st quarter valued at $4,418,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berry Global Group in the 1st quarter valued at $253,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BERY shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Berry Global Group from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Berry Global Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Berry Global Group from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Berry Global Group from $70.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Berry Global Group from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.54.

Berry Global Group Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:BERY opened at $63.75 on Friday. Berry Global Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.52 and a 1 year high of $68.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.22.

Berry Global Group (NYSE:BERY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Berry Global Group had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 27.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Berry Global Group, Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berry Global Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. Berry Global Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.87%.

Insider Transactions at Berry Global Group

In other news, President William J. Norman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.48, for a total transaction of $598,320.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Berry Global Group news, President Michael Edward Hill sold 28,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total transaction of $1,888,524.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President William J. Norman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.48, for a total value of $598,320.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,520 shares of company stock valued at $2,763,744. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Berry Global Group Profile

Berry Global Group, Inc manufactures and supplies non-woven, flexible, and rigid products in consumer and industrial end markets. The company operates through Consumer Packaging International; Consumer Packaging North America; Engineered Materials; and Health, Hygiene & Specialties segments. The Consumer Packaging International segment offers closures and dispensing systems, pharmaceutical devices and packaging, bottles and canisters, containers, and technical components.