Analysts Set Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) Price Target at C$4.79

Shares of Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$4.79.

Several research analysts have recently commented on BTE shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. National Bank Financial decreased their price target on Baytex Energy from C$4.75 to C$4.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Capital One Financial upgraded shares of Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th.

Insider Activity

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

Baytex Energy Price Performance

Shares of TSE:BTE opened at C$4.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of C$3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.69. Baytex Energy has a fifty-two week low of C$1.91 and a fifty-two week high of C$4.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is C$4.52 and its 200 day moving average is C$3.79.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported C$0.04 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$746.42 million for 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 forecast that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

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.