Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Rating Increased to Outperform at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Monday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Raymond James Financial currently has C$7.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of C$5.50.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on BTE. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Baytex Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on shares of 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. TD Securities upped their target price on 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$5.54.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Baytex Energy stock opened at C$6.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of C$4.49 billion, a PE ratio of -7.79, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.94. Baytex Energy has a 52-week low of C$1.91 and a 52-week high of C$6.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 3.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$5.15 and a 200-day moving average of C$4.36.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) EPS for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 16.25% and a negative net margin of 40.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Baytex Energy

In other Baytex Energy news, insider Chad Lundberg bought 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$6.15 per share, with a total value of C$67,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 613,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$3,772,416.15. This trade represents a 1.83% increase in their position. 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.