Insider Selling: Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Director Sells 77,600 Shares of Stock

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) Director Stephen David Lile Reynish sold 77,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$6.85, for a total value of C$531,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$105,490. This represents a 83.44% decrease in their position.

Baytex Energy Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BTE traded up C$0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching C$6.85. 5,706,845 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,302,357. The stock has a market cap of C$4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$6.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$5.29. Baytex Energy Corp. has a 12 month low of C$2.26 and a 12 month high of C$7.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.84, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C($0.09) EPS for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative net margin of 83.88% and a negative return on equity of 23.15%. The business had revenue of C$401.37 million for the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Baytex Energy Corp. will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a $0.0225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -7.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BTE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from C$5.25 to C$7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets increased their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$7.00 to C$8.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$7.50 to C$8.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotia increased their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$6.50 to C$7.50 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities increased 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$7.00.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp. is a Calgary -based energy company committed to driving shareholder value through disciplined execution. It operates a high-quality, high-return portfolio in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, featuring the Pembina Duvernay and heavy oil plays in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These core assets are backed by an extensive drilling inventory and consistently generate strong cash flow.