Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.8947.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on OVV shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Ovintiv in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Scotiabank upgraded Ovintiv from an “outperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ovintiv from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research lowered Ovintiv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, National Bank Financial lifted their price objective on Ovintiv from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rachel Maureen Moore sold 7,753 shares of Ovintiv stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.32, for a total value of $490,919.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 72,530 shares in the company, valued at $4,592,599.60. The trade was a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ovintiv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ovintiv during the second quarter valued at about $1,422,959,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ovintiv by 5,195.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,347,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,365,000 after buying an additional 17,020,269 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Ovintiv by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,059,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669,469 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ovintiv by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,890,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,601,000 after acquiring an additional 203,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,880,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137,162 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ovintiv Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE OVV opened at $66.53 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.77 and its 200 day moving average is $57.24. Ovintiv has a 52 week low of $35.47 and a 52 week high of $67.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79 and a beta of 0.53.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Ovintiv had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 14.84%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ovintiv will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Ovintiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.90%.

About Ovintiv

Ovintiv Inc is a North American energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Formerly known as Encana Corporation, the company rebranded as Ovintiv in January 2020 and established its headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Ovintiv’s upstream portfolio spans multiple unconventional resource plays, reflecting a strategy centered on high-return projects and disciplined capital allocation.

The company’s core business activities include the acquisition and development of acreage in major shale basins across the United States and Canada.