Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$7.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD upped their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$6.00 to C$6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$6.50 to C$7.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$5.25 to C$7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Scotia raised their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$6.50 to C$7.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$7.00 to C$8.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Baytex Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTE stock opened at C$5.54 on Friday. Baytex Energy has a fifty-two week low of C$2.43 and a fifty-two week high of C$7.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$6.47 and a 200 day moving average price of C$5.57. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.84, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 23.15% and a negative net margin of 83.88%.The business had revenue of C$401.37 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a $0.0225 dividend. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -7.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen David Lile Reynish sold 77,600 shares of Baytex Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$6.85, for a total transaction of C$531,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$105,490. The trade was a 83.44% decrease in their position. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp. is a Calgary -based energy company committed to driving shareholder value through disciplined execution. It operates a high-quality, high-return portfolio in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, featuring the Pembina Duvernay and heavy oil plays in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These core assets are backed by an extensive drilling inventory and consistently generate strong cash flow.