Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Stock Price

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank Of Canada from C$5.00 to C$6.50 in a report released on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Securities raised their price objective 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. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$5.66.

Baytex Energy Trading Down 7.6%

TSE BTE opened at C$5.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of C$4.25 billion, a PE ratio of -7.37, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. Baytex Energy has a 12 month low of C$1.91 and a 12 month high of C$6.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$5.34 and a 200-day moving average of C$4.48.

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

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -11.54%.

Insider Transactions at Baytex Energy

In other news, insider James Robert Maclean purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$5.73 per share, with a total value of C$57,300.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 185,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,061,895.06. This trade represents a 5.70% increase in their position. Also, insider Chadwick Kalmakoff purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$5.73 per share, with a total value of C$85,950.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 382,331 shares in the company, valued at C$2,190,756.63. The trade was a 4.08% increase in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 49,800 shares of company stock valued at $293,188. 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.