Cibc World Mkts Upgrades Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) to Strong-Buy

Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BIR. Scotiabank raised Birchcliff Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. CIBC raised Birchcliff Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from C$7.00 to C$8.00 in a research report on Thursday. National Bankshares set a C$8.00 price target on Birchcliff Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Birchcliff Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from C$6.00 to C$7.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cormark raised Birchcliff Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Birchcliff Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$7.04.

Birchcliff Energy Price Performance

BIR opened at C$5.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$5.71 and its 200 day moving average price is C$5.52. Birchcliff Energy has a 12-month low of C$4.53 and a 12-month high of C$6.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.63. The firm has a market cap of C$1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.54, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.93.

Birchcliff Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Birchcliff Energy’s payout ratio is currently 700.63%.

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.