Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$4.79.

BTE has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Securities lowered shares of Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$5.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Baytex Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th.

Insider Activity at Baytex Energy

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

Baytex Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTE stock opened at C$5.24 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$4.68 and a 200-day moving average price of C$3.97. Baytex Energy has a 52 week low of C$1.91 and a 52 week high of C$5.27. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

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.