Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Shares Down 5.7% – Should You Sell?

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) fell 5.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as C$2.74 and last traded at C$2.82. 2,514,573 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 4,062,773 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$2.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on BTE. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Baytex Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. ATB Capital lowered their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.50 to C$5.20 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Baytex Energy from C$6.00 to C$5.50 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. CIBC dropped their price target on Baytex Energy from C$6.00 to C$5.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.50 to C$5.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$5.84.

Baytex Energy Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38. The firm has a market capitalization of C$2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 2.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$3.59 and a 200-day moving average of C$3.97.

Baytex Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.023 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Baytex Energy’s payout ratio is -20.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Nicole Marie Frechette bought 8,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$3.67 per share, with a total value of C$30,094.00. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Baytex Energy Company Profile

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.