Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James Financial

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a C$7.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of C$5.50. Raymond James Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.94% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Baytex Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Securities upped their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, National Bank Financial lifted their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Baytex Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$5.54.

Baytex Energy Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of BTE stock traded up C$0.09 on Monday, hitting C$6.09. The stock had a trading volume of 7,980,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,486,100. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$5.12 and its 200-day moving average is C$4.34. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.94. Baytex Energy has a 52-week low of C$1.91 and a 52-week high of C$6.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 3.61.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) 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, research analysts expect that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Baytex Energy

In other news, insider Chad Lundberg bought 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$4.36 per share, for a total transaction of C$50,140.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 532,801 shares in the company, valued at C$2,323,012.36. The trade was a 2.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. 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.