Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Insider Purchases C$50,140.00 in Stock

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) insider Chad Lundberg acquired 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$4.36 per share, with a total value of C$50,140.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 532,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,323,012.36. This trade represents a 2.21% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Baytex Energy Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of BTE stock traded down C$0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching C$4.43. 1,553,673 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,462,332. Baytex Energy Corp. has a 1 year low of C$1.91 and a 1 year high of C$4.65. The firm has a market cap of C$3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is C$4.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$3.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported C$0.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$746.42 million for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 8.96% and a negative net margin of 10.45%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.0225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BTE. National Bankshares cut their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$4.75 to C$4.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$4.00 to C$5.25 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$4.75 to C$5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Capital One Financial upgraded Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$4.79.

Baytex Energy Company Profile

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.