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 ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$7.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BTE. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from C$5.25 to C$7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Baytex Energy from C$6.50 to C$7.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$7.00 to C$8.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$7.50 to C$8.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Scotia upped 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 research report on Friday, May 8th.

Baytex Energy Stock Performance

Shares of BTE opened at C$5.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.84. Baytex Energy has a 12-month low of C$2.43 and a 12-month high of C$7.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$6.47 and a 200 day moving average price of C$5.57. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.34.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C($0.09) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$401.37 million for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 23.15% and a negative net margin of 83.88%. 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 was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a $0.0225 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -7.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.