Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$5.27 and last traded at C$5.11, with a volume of 4842573 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$5.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Baytex Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Baytex Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$4.79.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$4.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$3.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38. The company has a market capitalization of C$3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.