Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) Upgraded to Outperform at National Bankshares

National Bankshares upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has C$8.00 price objective on the oil and natural gas company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of C$6.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Securities raised shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a report on Thursday. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Birchcliff Energy from C$5.75 to C$6.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Birchcliff Energy from C$6.00 to C$5.75 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$6.82.

Birchcliff Energy Stock Performance

BIR opened at C$5.95 on Thursday. Birchcliff Energy has a 1-year low of C$4.53 and a 1-year high of C$6.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$5.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$5.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.26, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of C$1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.93.

Birchcliff Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Birchcliff Energy’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Hue Tran sold 28,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$5.53, for a total transaction of C$1,106,000.00. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,488. 1.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Birchcliff Energy Company Profile

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.