Analysts Set Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (TSE:BIR) Price Target at C$6.82

Shares of Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (TSE:BIR - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$6.82.

BIR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities raised Birchcliff Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised Birchcliff Energy from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. National Bankshares raised Birchcliff Energy from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$6.00 to C$8.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. CIBC raised their target price on Birchcliff Energy from C$5.75 to C$6.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Birchcliff Energy from C$6.00 to C$5.75 in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Birchcliff Energy Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of TSE:BIR traded up C$0.19 on Monday, reaching C$5.90. 1,352,921 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,042,340. The business's 50-day simple moving average is C$5.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$5.58. Birchcliff Energy has a 52 week low of C$4.53 and a 52 week high of C$6.54. The stock has a market capitalization of C$1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.63.

Birchcliff Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. Birchcliff Energy's payout ratio is 700.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Birchcliff Energy

In related news, Senior Officer Hue Tran sold 28,600 shares of Birchcliff Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$5.10, for a total value of C$145,860.00. Also, Director Aaron Jeffery Tonken sold 200,000 shares of Birchcliff Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$5.53, for a total value of C$1,106,000.00. In the last three months, insiders have sold 260,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,488. 1.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Birchcliff Energy

Birchcliff Energy Ltd is an intermediate oil and gas company that explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, light oil, and natural gas liquids. The company conducts its drilling program in resource plays located in the Peace River Arch region of Alberta. Birchcliff focuses on operating nearly all its high working production, which is surrounded by blocks of high working interest lands where it owns and/or controls the infrastructure.