Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Mizuho

Mizuho restated their buy rating on shares of Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $58.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ovintiv from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ovintiv from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $54.00.

Ovintiv Price Performance

NYSE OVV opened at $55.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.92. Ovintiv has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $55.52. The company has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.01 and a beta of 2.65.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.41. Ovintiv had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 19.16%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ovintiv will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is currently 15.21%.

Insider Transactions at Ovintiv

In other news, EVP Renee Ellen Zemljak sold 76,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total transaction of $3,886,413.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,325.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Renee Ellen Zemljak sold 76,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total transaction of $3,886,413.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,325.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard John Mayson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $303,360.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,630.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,564 shares of company stock valued at $4,660,818 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OVV. EnCap Energy Capital Fund XI L.P. purchased a new position in Ovintiv in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $559,852,000. EnCap Energy Capital Fund X L.P. purchased a new position in Ovintiv in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $380,527,000. EnCap Energy Capital Fund IX L.P. purchased a new position in Ovintiv in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $269,394,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,748,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,029,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,484,554 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

About Ovintiv

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.