California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Holdings in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 448,307 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,200 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Ovintiv worth $18,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartree Partners LP acquired a new stake in Ovintiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,636,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 415,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,828,000 after purchasing an additional 23,340 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Ovintiv by 1,732.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,387,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,203,087 shares during the period. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Ovintiv during the fourth quarter valued at $325,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 56,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,278,000 after purchasing an additional 4,582 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Ovintiv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Ovintiv from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ovintiv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.17.

Ovintiv Stock Performance

OVV opened at $32.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 2.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.94. Ovintiv Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.63 and a fifty-two week high of $55.95.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Ovintiv Profile

Ovintiv Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores, develops, produces, and markets natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids in the United States and Canada. The company operates through USA Operations, Canadian Operations, and Market Optimization segments. Its principal assets include Permian in west Texas and Anadarko in west-central Oklahoma; and Montney in northeast British Columbia and northwest Alberta.