Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$5.91 and last traded at C$5.86, with a volume of 880134 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$5.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BTE. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$5.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Securities upped their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$5.32.

Baytex Energy Stock Up 2.4%

The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. The firm has a market cap of C$4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.69, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$5.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$4.32.

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

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -11.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chad Lundberg acquired 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$4.36 per share, for a total transaction of C$50,140.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 532,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately 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.