MEG Energy (TSE:MEG) Trading Up 3.1% – Here’s Why

MEG Energy Corp. (TSE:MEG)’s stock price shot up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$19.40 and last traded at C$19.10. 2,483,620 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 2,697,796 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$18.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MEG shares. National Bankshares upped their price target on MEG Energy from C$27.00 to C$28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Desjardins downgraded shares of MEG Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from C$29.00 to C$26.50 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank upgraded MEG Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. CIBC dropped their price objective on MEG Energy from C$32.00 to C$28.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on MEG Energy from C$33.00 to C$32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$30.35.

MEG Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 2.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is C$23.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$24.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.80, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

MEG Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. MEG Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MEG Energy

In other MEG Energy news, Director Darlene Miriam Gates sold 91,584 shares of MEG Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$24.19, for a total transaction of C$2,215,416.96. Also, Senior Officer Erik Alexander Alson sold 32,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$24.19, for a total value of C$791,690.32. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About MEG Energy

MEG Energy is engaged in in situ oil sands development and production in Alberta, Canada. As of March 2021, the company reported estimated net proved and probable reserves of 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Net production averaged 82,000 barrels per day in 2020.