Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE) Sets New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares of Baytex Energy hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $5.20 and last at $5.1450 on volume of about 4.01 million shares.
• Analysts are mixed but cautious — MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Hold" (1 Strong Buy, 3 Buy, 4 Hold, 1 Sell) after several recent upgrades and downgrades.
• Baytex missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of ($0.31) vs. $0.02 expected and revenue of $251.4M vs. $545.6M expected, although the company has strong liquidity (current and quick ratios 3.61), very low debt-to-equity (0.05), and a modest 1.7% dividend yield.

Shares of Baytex Energy Corp (NYSE:BTE - Get Free Report) TSE: BTE hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $5.20 and last traded at $5.1450, with a volume of 4010866 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered shares of Baytex Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. TD Securities lowered shares of Baytex Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Baytex Energy Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $4.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.17 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE - Get Free Report) TSE: BTE last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.96% and a negative return on equity of 5.44%. The firm had revenue of $251.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.60 million. Equities research analysts expect that Baytex Energy Corp will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.0225 dividend. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Baytex Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -12.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baytex Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Baytex Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Baytex Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baytex Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Baytex Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Baytex Energy by 98.4% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 13,490 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 6,691 shares during the last quarter. 46.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Baytex Energy

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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