Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Trading Down 13% on Analyst Downgrade

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE)’s share price fell 13% during mid-day trading on Friday after CIBC lowered their price target on the stock from C$5.00 to C$4.25. The company traded as low as C$2.16 and last traded at C$2.21. 10,479,806 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 117% from the average session volume of 4,833,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$2.54.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on BTE. Atb Cap Markets lowered shares of Baytex Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.50 to C$5.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.50 to C$5.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank raised Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$4.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$5.33.

Baytex Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$3.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$3.62. The firm has a market cap of C$1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 2.61.

Baytex Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -20.48%.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp., an energy company, engages in the acquisition, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and in the Eagle Ford, the United States. The company offers light oil and condensate, heavy oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas.