Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Share Price Passes Below 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE)’s share price passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$5.52 and traded as low as C$5.51. Baytex Energy shares last traded at C$5.67, with a volume of 3,937,390 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from C$5.25 to C$7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. National Bank Financial boosted their target price on Baytex Energy from C$7.50 to C$8.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Baytex Energy from C$6.50 to C$7.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets raised their price target on Baytex Energy from C$7.00 to C$8.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Baytex Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$7.00.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 0.4%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$6.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$5.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.84, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of C$4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.34.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 83.88% and a negative return on equity of 23.15%. The company had revenue of C$401.37 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Baytex Energy’s payout ratio is currently -7.03%.

Insider Activity at Baytex Energy

In other news, insider Chad Lundberg bought 11,000 shares of Baytex Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$6.15 per share, with a total value of C$67,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 613,401 shares in the company, valued at C$3,772,416.15. The trade was a 1.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Stephen David Lile Reynish sold 77,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$6.85, for a total transaction of C$531,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$105,490. This trade represents a 83.44% decrease in their position. Insiders have bought a total of 24,800 shares of company stock valued at $149,938 over the last 90 days. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp. is a Calgary -based energy company committed to driving shareholder value through disciplined execution. It operates a high-quality, high-return portfolio in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, featuring the Pembina Duvernay and heavy oil plays in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These core assets are backed by an extensive drilling inventory and consistently generate strong cash flow.