Ovintiv Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:OVV)

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 2,696 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 42% compared to the average volume of 1,900 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ovintiv

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ovintiv in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ovintiv by 53.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 862 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Ovintiv by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ovintiv in the 1st quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ovintiv in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $69,000. 83.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OVV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $62.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Ovintiv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ovintiv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Ovintiv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OVV opened at $39.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.90. Ovintiv has a twelve month low of $36.90 and a twelve month high of $55.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.49 billion, a PE ratio of 5.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 2.61.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.02. Ovintiv had a net margin of 18.56% and a return on equity of 18.28%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Ovintiv will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Ovintiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.93%.

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.