Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Insider Nicole Marie Frechette Buys 8,500 Shares

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) insider Nicole Marie Frechette acquired 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$5.84 per share, with a total value of C$49,640.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 73,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$426,471.84. This represents a 13.17% increase in their position.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

TSE BTE traded up C$0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching C$6.14. 5,310,999 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,618,627. The company has a market cap of C$4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.42. Baytex Energy Corp. has a 1-year low of C$1.91 and a 1-year high of C$6.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 3.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$5.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$4.43.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) EPS for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 40.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.25%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -11.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BTE. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Baytex Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, National Bank Financial lifted their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Baytex Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$5.54.

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.