Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$5.67 and last traded at C$5.63, with a volume of 787862 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$5.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BTE shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Baytex Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Baytex Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$5.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Baytex Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$5.32.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of C$4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$4.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$4.21. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) EPS for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 40.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.25%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -11.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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