Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Director Mark Bly Purchases 20,000 Shares

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) Director Mark Bly acquired 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$4.50 per share, with a total value of C$90,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 575,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,590,371. This represents a 3.60% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

Shares of Baytex Energy stock traded up C$0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting C$4.35. 1,645,836 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,497,106. Baytex Energy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of C$1.91 and a fifty-two week high of C$4.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$4.02 and a 200 day moving average price of C$3.33. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.97.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported C$0.04 earnings per share for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 8.96% and a negative net margin of 10.45%.The company had revenue of C$746.42 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from C$3.00 to C$6.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Capital One Financial raised Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Scotiabank upgraded Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from C$4.00 to C$5.25 in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Raymond James Financial raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their target price on Baytex Energy from C$4.75 to C$4.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$4.79.

Baytex Energy Company Profile

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.