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

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday. The company traded as high as $69.86 and last traded at $69.6990, with a volume of 126,246 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $69.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OVV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotia lifted their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ovintiv from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ovintiv from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. National Bank Financial raised their target price on Ovintiv from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Ovintiv in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.64.

Ovintiv Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.60 and its 200-day moving average is $59.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.65. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Ovintiv had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 14.84%. On average, analysts predict that Ovintiv Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ovintiv

In related news, EVP Rachel Moore sold 7,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.32, for a total transaction of $490,919.96. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ovintiv

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OVV. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ovintiv in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,422,959,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Ovintiv by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,880,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,874,000 after buying an additional 1,137,162 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in 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 worth $174,856,000 after buying an additional 239,054 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Ovintiv by 119.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,717,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,421,000 after buying an additional 935,860 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Ovintiv by 42.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,577,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,040,000 after buying an additional 470,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

About Ovintiv

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.