Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$5.59 and last traded at C$5.43, with a volume of 6509052 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$5.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BTE. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial cut Baytex Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$5.50 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded 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 report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$5.32.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.94. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of C$4.82 and a 200-day moving average price of C$4.10.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) earnings per share for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 40.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.25%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a $0.0225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Baytex Energy’s payout ratio is presently 32.14%.

Insider Activity at Baytex Energy

In other news, Director Mark Bly bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 575,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,590,371. The trade was a 3.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Chad Lundberg purchased 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 532,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,323,012.36. The trade was a 2.21% increase in their position. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Baytex Energy Company Profile

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.