Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Upgraded at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has C$7.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of C$5.25.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BTE. TD Securities upped their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. 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 research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$6.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$6.18.

Baytex Energy Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of BTE opened at C$5.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.42. Baytex Energy has a 1 year low of C$2.00 and a 1 year high of C$6.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$5.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$4.57. 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 issued 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 return on equity of 16.25% and a negative net margin of 40.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a $0.0225 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is presently -11.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Baytex Energy news, insider Chadwick Kalmakoff bought 15,000 shares of Baytex Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$5.73 per share, for a total transaction of C$85,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 382,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,190,756.63. This trade represents a 4.08% increase in their position. Also, insider Chad Lundberg bought 11,000 shares of Baytex Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$6.15 per share, for a total transaction of C$67,650.00. Following the purchase, the insider 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 ownership of the stock. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 49,800 shares of company stock worth $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.