Analysts Set Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) Price Target at $68.75

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.75.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OVV. Roth Capital boosted their target price on Ovintiv from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Ovintiv in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Ovintiv and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, National Bank Financial lifted their target price on Ovintiv from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Ovintiv Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of OVV opened at $58.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Ovintiv has a 1-year low of $35.47 and a 1-year high of $67.51. The stock has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.76.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Ovintiv had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 14.84%. Equities analysts forecast that Ovintiv will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Ovintiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.90%.

Insider Transactions at Ovintiv

In other news, EVP Rachel Moore sold 7,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 72,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,592,599.60. This represents a 9.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ovintiv

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ovintiv in the second quarter worth $1,422,959,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Ovintiv by 16.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,880,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,162 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Ovintiv by 116.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,692,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,101,000 after buying an additional 3,060,691 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ovintiv by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,945,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,856,000 after buying an additional 239,054 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Ovintiv by 119.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,717,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,421,000 after purchasing an additional 935,860 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

About Ovintiv

Ovintiv Inc is an independent North American energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and natural gas. Its portfolio is focused on unconventional, or shale, resource plays, with operations designed to produce a mix of higher-value liquids and natural gas.

The company’s principal assets are located in the United States and Canada. Its U.S. operations include positions in the Permian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico, the Uinta Basin of Utah and the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma, while its Canadian operations include properties in Alberta’s Montney and Duvernay formations.