Raymond James Upgrades Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) to “Moderate Buy”

Raymond James upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) to a moderate buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on BIR. CIBC raised Birchcliff Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$7.00 to C$8.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from C$6.00 to C$7.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank raised shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. National Bankshares set a C$8.00 target price on shares of Birchcliff Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Birchcliff Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$7.09.

Birchcliff Energy Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of BIR opened at C$5.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$5.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$5.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.63, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Birchcliff Energy has a one year low of C$4.53 and a one year high of C$6.95. The company has a market cap of C$1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.93.

Birchcliff Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Birchcliff Energy’s payout ratio is 700.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Hue Tran sold 30,000 shares of Birchcliff Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$6.30, for a total transaction of C$189,000.00. 1.55% of the stock is owned by 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.