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

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$4.79.

Several research firms have weighed in on BTE. Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Capital One Financial raised shares of Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. National Bankshares dropped their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$4.75 to C$4.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from C$4.00 to C$5.25 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

BTE stock opened at C$4.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.92. Baytex Energy has a 52-week low of C$1.91 and a 52-week high of C$4.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$4.26 and a 200-day moving average price of C$3.45.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last issued 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 net margin of 10.45% and a negative return on equity of 8.96%. The business had revenue of C$746.42 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Baytex Energy news, Director Mark Bly purchased 20,000 shares of the company’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, for a total transaction of C$90,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 575,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,590,371. This represents a 3.60% increase in their position. Also, insider Chad Lundberg acquired 11,500 shares of the firm’s 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 purchase, the insider owned 532,801 shares in the company, valued at C$2,323,012.36. This trade represents a 2.21% increase in their position. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.