Royal Bank Of Canada Downgrades Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) to Sector Perform

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) was downgraded by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BTE. National Bankshares cut their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$4.75 to C$4.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$4.75 to C$5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Capital One Financial upgraded Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Baytex Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$4.79.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

Shares of BTE stock traded down C$0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching C$4.64. The stock had a trading volume of 7,902,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,619,689. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$4.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$3.47. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.92. Baytex Energy has a 12 month low of C$1.91 and a 12 month high of C$4.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported C$0.04 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$746.42 million during the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 10.45% and a negative return on equity of 8.96%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Baytex Energy

In other Baytex Energy news, Director Mark Bly bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$4.50 per share, for a total transaction of C$90,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 575,638 shares in the company, valued at C$2,590,371. The trade was a 3.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Chad Lundberg purchased 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$4.36 per share, with a total value of C$50,140.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 532,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,323,012.36. This trade represents a 2.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

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.