Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $69.86 and last traded at $69.6990, with a volume of 126,246 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on OVV shares. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Ovintiv in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on Ovintiv from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Ovintiv from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ovintiv from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Ovintiv in a report on Monday, September 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.64.

Ovintiv Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last released its quarterly 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 for 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ovintiv Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Ovintiv’s dividend payout ratio is 33.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rachel 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 transaction of $490,919.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 72,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,592,599.60. This trade represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ovintiv

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OVV. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ovintiv in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ovintiv during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ovintiv during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Markowski Investments acquired a new stake in Ovintiv during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Ovintiv by 43.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ovintiv Company Profile

Ovintiv Inc is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and natural gas. The company’s operations are focused on North America, with production and resource development activities in the United States and Canada.

Ovintiv’s U.S. operations include assets in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico and the Uinta Basin of Utah. In Canada, the company’s portfolio includes the Montney and Horn River natural gas and liquids-rich plays in British Columbia and Alberta.