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

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $4.59 (last $4.5450) on volume of about 1.68 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed with an average rating of Hold (1 Strong Buy, 3 Buy, 4 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Baytex missed the March quarter with EPS of ($0.31) vs. $0.02 expected and revenue of $251.4M vs. $545.6M expected, though it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.0225 (roughly a 2.0% yield).

Shares of Baytex Energy Corp (NYSE:BTE - Get Free Report) TSE: BTE hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $4.59 and last traded at $4.5450, with a volume of 1679359 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $4.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BTE. TD Cowen lowered Baytex Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Baytex Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Baytex Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Baytex Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Baytex Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Baytex Energy presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Baytex Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.92 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.36.

Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE - Get Free Report) TSE: BTE last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $251.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.60 million. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 5.44% and a negative net margin of 16.96%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Baytex Energy Corp will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Baytex Energy's payout ratio is presently -12.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BTE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Baytex Energy by 110.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,127,074 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $15,893,000 after buying an additional 3,743,234 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Baytex Energy by 446.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,646,885 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,903,000 after buying an additional 2,162,346 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Baytex Energy by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,802,016 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,226,000 after buying an additional 287,454 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Baytex Energy by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 144,757 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 14,050 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Baytex Energy by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 465,450 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 72,431 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.

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