Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BIR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities raised Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Birchcliff Energy from C$5.75 to C$6.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. National Bankshares upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$6.00 to C$8.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Birchcliff Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$6.71.

Birchcliff Energy Price Performance

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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$5.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$5.56. The company has a market cap of C$1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.93.

Birchcliff Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Birchcliff Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 700.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Birchcliff Energy news, Senior Officer Hue Tran sold 31,400 shares of Birchcliff Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$5.02, for a total transaction of C$157,628.00. Also, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,000 shares of company stock worth $1,409,488. Insiders own 1.55% of the company’s stock.

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.