Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Holdings in Baytex Energy Corp $BTE

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Baytex Energy Corp (NYSE:BTE) (TSE:BTE) by 236.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,986 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 168,735 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Baytex Energy were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Baytex Energy by 110.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,127,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,893,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743,234 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Baytex Energy by 446.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,646,885 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,162,346 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Baytex Energy by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,802,016 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after buying an additional 287,454 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Baytex Energy by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 144,757 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 14,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Baytex Energy by 18.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 465,450 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 72,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BTE. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baytex Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of BTE stock opened at $4.17 on Thursday. Baytex Energy Corp has a 1 year low of $1.93 and a 1 year high of $5.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.17. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of -5.96 and a beta of 0.40.

Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE) (TSE:BTE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.09). Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 24.25% and a negative return on equity of 10.85%. The company had revenue of $325.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.04 million. Research analysts predict that Baytex Energy Corp will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Baytex Energy’s payout ratio is presently -10.00%.

Baytex Energy 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.