Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (TSE:BIR) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$5.56 and traded as high as C$5.95. Birchcliff Energy shares last traded at C$5.79, with a volume of 774,326 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BIR. National Bankshares upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$6.00 to C$8.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Birchcliff Energy from C$6.00 to C$5.75 in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Birchcliff Energy from C$5.75 to C$6.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$6.71.

Birchcliff Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.63, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$5.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$5.56. The firm has a market capitalization of C$1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.97, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.93.

Birchcliff Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Birchcliff Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 700.63%.

Insider Activity at Birchcliff Energy

In other news, Director Aaron Jeffery Tonken sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$5.53, for a total transaction of C$1,106,000.00. Also, 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. Insiders sold a total of 260,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,488 over the last quarter. 1.55% of the stock is 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.