Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$4.79.

BTE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Capital One Financial raised shares of Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Baytex Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chad Lundberg acquired 11,500 shares of Baytex Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$4.36 per share, for a total transaction of C$50,140.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 532,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,323,012.36. This trade represents a 2.21% increase in their position. Also, Director Mark Bly acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$4.50 per share, for a total transaction of C$90,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 575,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,590,371. This trade represents a 3.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 0.6%

TSE:BTE opened at C$4.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$4.50 and a 200 day moving average of C$3.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38. Baytex Energy has a 52 week low of C$1.91 and a 52 week high of C$4.91.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported C$0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 8.96% and a negative net margin of 10.45%.The company had revenue of C$746.42 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 32.14%.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp is an oil and gas company. Geographically, the group operates in Canada and the United States. The company derives a majority of revenue from Canada. Its Canada segment includes the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in Western Canada.