Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE)’s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$4.17 and traded as high as C$5.61. Baytex Energy shares last traded at C$5.55, with a volume of 4,489,515 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of 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. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the stock 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$5.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$5.32.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 0.4%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is C$4.91 and its 200-day moving average price is C$4.17. The stock has a market cap of C$4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.12, 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 current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -11.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.