Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Shares Down 13% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) dropped 13% during mid-day trading on Thursday after CIBC lowered their price target on the stock from C$5.00 to C$4.25. The stock traded as low as C$2.16 and last traded at C$2.21. Approximately 10,479,806 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 117% from the average daily volume of 4,833,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$2.54.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Securities lowered their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.50 to C$5.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$4.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.50 to C$5.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$4.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Baytex Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Baytex Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$5.33.

Baytex Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.03, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 2.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$3.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$3.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Baytex Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Baytex Energy’s payout ratio is -20.48%.

Baytex Energy Company Profile

Baytex Energy Corp., an energy company, engages in the acquisition, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and in the Eagle Ford, the United States. The company offers light oil and condensate, heavy oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas.