Legal & General Group Plc Invests $24.06 Million in Ovintiv Inc. $OVV

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 456,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,061,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in Ovintiv in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ovintiv during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ovintiv during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 43.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ovintiv during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. 83.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ovintiv

In related news, EVP Rachel Maureen Moore sold 7,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 72,530 shares in the company, valued at $4,592,599.60. The trade was a 9.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ovintiv Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of OVV opened at $64.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 0.53. Ovintiv Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.47 and a 52 week high of $67.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.20). Ovintiv had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 14.84%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ovintiv Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is 33.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on OVV shares. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ovintiv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.89.

Ovintiv Profile

Ovintiv Inc is a North American energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Formerly known as Encana Corporation, the company rebranded as Ovintiv in January 2020 and established its headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Ovintiv’s upstream portfolio spans multiple unconventional resource plays, reflecting a strategy centered on high-return projects and disciplined capital allocation.

The company’s core business activities include the acquisition and development of acreage in major shale basins across the United States and Canada.