Spark Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Baytex Energy Corp $BTE

Spark Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Baytex Energy Corp (NYSE:BTE) (TSE:BTE) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 259,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,000. Baytex Energy accounts for about 2.0% of Spark Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTE. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Baytex Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $197,114,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Baytex Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,449,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $95,270,000 after buying an additional 374,972 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Baytex Energy by 816.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,003,118 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $98,381,000 after buying an additional 19,601,808 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Baytex Energy by 43.9% during the first quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,071,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $89,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,123,098 shares during the period. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new position in Baytex Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $68,000,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Baytex Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BTE stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $4.88. The company had a trading volume of 11,194,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,691,857. Baytex Energy Corp has a fifty-two week low of $2.18 and a fifty-two week high of $5.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4.40 and its 200 day moving average is $4.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of -7.29 and a beta of 0.39.

Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE) (TSE:BTE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $449.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.10 million. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 7.77% and a negative net margin of 26.43%. Research analysts expect that Baytex Energy Corp will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.0225 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -10.45%.

Baytex Energy Company Profile

Baytex Energy Corp. is an oil & gas exploration and production company. The firm engages in the acquisition, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and in the Eagle Ford in the United States. The company was founded on June 3, 1993 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.