Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Baytex Energy Corp (NYSE:BTE) (TSE:BTE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $4.59 and last traded at $4.5450, with a volume of 1679359 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $4.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BTE. Zacks Research raised Baytex Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 3rd. Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Baytex Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Baytex Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Baytex Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.92 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.61 and a current ratio of 3.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.36.

Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE) (TSE:BTE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.33). Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 5.44% and a negative net margin of 16.96%.The firm had revenue of $251.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.60 million. Research analysts predict that Baytex Energy Corp will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -12.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Baytex Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,449,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $95,270,000 after buying an additional 374,972 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Baytex Energy by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,233,589 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,342,000 after buying an additional 2,375,496 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Baytex Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,054,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Baytex Energy by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,710,876 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $19,172,000 after buying an additional 738,337 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Baytex Energy by 176.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 10,287,145 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,321,000 after buying an additional 6,564,105 shares during the period. 46.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Baytex Energy Company Profile

Baytex Energy Corp. is an oil & gas exploration and production company. The firm engages in the acquisition, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and in the Eagle Ford in the United States. The company was founded on June 3, 1993 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.