Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) Downgraded to Market Perform Rating by BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets downgraded Birchcliff Energy from "outperform" to "market perform" and cut its price target to C$7.00 (from C$8.50), implying about an 8.36% upside from the current price.
• Analyst views are mixed — Haywood recently raised its target to C$10.00 while CIBC downgraded the stock to "hold" and cut its target to C$8.50; MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of C$8.50.
• Shares traded down to C$6.46 on the day with volume ~2.34M (vs. average 1.61M); the company has a market cap of C$1.78B, a trailing PE of ~26.9, and reported last-quarter EPS of C$0.10.

Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report released on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. They presently have a C$7.00 price target on the oil and natural gas company's stock, down from their prior price target of C$8.50. BMO Capital Markets' price target suggests a potential upside of 8.36% from the company's current price.

BIR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Haywood Securities upped their price objective on Birchcliff Energy from C$8.00 to C$10.00 in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded Birchcliff Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from C$9.50 to C$8.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Birchcliff Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$8.50.

Birchcliff Energy Price Performance

Shares of Birchcliff Energy stock traded down C$0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting C$6.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,337,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,609,742. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$7.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$6.95. Birchcliff Energy has a 12-month low of C$5.16 and a 12-month high of C$8.19. The company has a market cap of C$1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of -0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.56, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The oil and natural gas company reported C$0.10 EPS for the quarter. Birchcliff Energy had a return on equity of 2.90% and a net margin of 9.27%.The company had revenue of C$164.42 million for the quarter. Analysts expect that Birchcliff Energy will post 0.1118631 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. To get the full value out of its natural gas wells, several gas plants are completely owned and operated for gas processing purposes.

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