Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• New 52-week high: Baytex Energy rallied to C$6.49 intraday (last C$6.46) on Monday with about 6.8M shares traded, a roughly 3.2% gain.
• Analyst sentiment is cautiously bullish — five Buys and three Holds give a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$6.18 (individual targets up to C$7.00).
• Mixed fundamentals but insider buying: the company reported negative EPS (C($1.11) last quarter), a negative net margin and high debt-to-equity (4.94), yet insiders purchased ~49,800 shares recently and the stock carries a small annualized dividend yield (~1.4%).

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BTE's stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$6.49 and last traded at C$6.46, with a volume of 6807721 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$6.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$6.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Baytex Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from C$5.25 to C$7.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$6.18.

Baytex Energy Stock Up 3.2%

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$5.61 and its 200 day moving average price is C$4.69. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.42.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BTE last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) earnings per share for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 16.25% and a negative net margin of 40.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Baytex Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -11.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Baytex Energy

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.

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