Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (TSE:BIR) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (TSE:BIR - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$7.34.

BIR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Birchcliff Energy from C$7.00 to C$8.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. CIBC upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$7.00 to C$8.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial set a C$7.50 target price on shares of Birchcliff Energy and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Birchcliff Energy from C$8.00 to C$8.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Insider Activity at Birchcliff Energy

In related news, Senior Officer Robyn Bourgeois sold 26,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$7.04, for a total value of C$188,672.00. Also, Director Aaron Jeffery Tonken sold 119,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$7.39, for a total transaction of C$884,583.00. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,077,277. 1.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Birchcliff Energy Price Performance

TSE BIR opened at C$6.91 on Thursday. Birchcliff Energy has a 52 week low of C$4.53 and a 52 week high of C$7.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.63. The stock has a market cap of C$1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$6.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$6.16.

Birchcliff Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Birchcliff Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 700.63%.

About Birchcliff Energy

Birchcliff Energy Ltd is an intermediate oil and gas company that explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, light oil, and natural gas liquids. The company conducts its drilling program in resource plays located in the Peace River Arch region of Alberta. Birchcliff focuses on operating nearly all its high working production, which is surrounded by blocks of high working interest lands where it owns and/or controls the infrastructure.

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