Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on OVV. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ovintiv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Ovintiv and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 target price on shares of Ovintiv in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ovintiv from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ovintiv from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ovintiv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Ovintiv Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of OVV stock opened at $60.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.12. Ovintiv has a 52 week low of $35.47 and a 52 week high of $67.51. The stock has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Ovintiv had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 9.43%. Analysts predict that Ovintiv will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is 33.90%.

Insider Activity at Ovintiv

In other news, EVP Rachel Moore sold 7,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.32, for a total value of $490,919.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 72,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,592,599.60. This represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ovintiv

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Ovintiv by 5.4% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 29,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ovintiv by 15.0% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the period. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in shares of Ovintiv in the second quarter worth about $4,716,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 18.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Ovintiv by 376.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 162,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,550,000 after buying an additional 128,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

About Ovintiv

Ovintiv Inc (NYSE: OVV) is an energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and operation of oil and natural gas properties. Its production includes crude oil, condensate, plant condensate, natural gas liquids and natural gas.

The company’s operations are concentrated in North America, with core assets in the Permian Basin, Uinta Basin and Anadarko Basin in the United States, as well as the Montney region in western Canada. Ovintiv also owns and operates related processing, gathering and other midstream infrastructure that supports the production and transportation of its energy products.

Ovintiv was formerly known as Encana Corporation and adopted its current name in 2020.