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

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$7.14 and last traded at C$7.09, with a volume of 3363858 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$6.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BTE. Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$6.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. National Bank Financial upped their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.25 to C$5.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$6.18.

Baytex Energy Stock Up 2.7%

The stock has a market cap of C$5.27 billion, a PE ratio of -9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 3.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$5.76 and its 200 day moving average price is C$4.79.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) EPS for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 40.77% and a negative return on equity of 16.25%. As a group, analysts forecast that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a $0.0225 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -11.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James Robert Maclean bought 10,000 shares of Baytex Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$5.73 per share, with a total value of C$57,300.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 185,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,061,895.06. The trade was a 5.70% increase in their position. Also, insider Chadwick Kalmakoff bought 15,000 shares of Baytex Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$5.73 per share, with a total value of C$85,950.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 382,331 shares in the company, valued at C$2,190,756.63. This represents a 4.08% increase in their position. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 49,800 shares of company stock valued at $293,188. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.