Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) Shares Down 13% After Analyst Downgrade

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) fell 13% 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 changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 117% from the average session volume of 4,833,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$2.54.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$4.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.50 to C$5.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$4.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised Baytex Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$5.33.

Baytex Energy Stock Down 13.0 %

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 stock has a market cap of C$1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 2.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$3.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$3.64.

Baytex Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. Baytex Energy’s payout ratio 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.