Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV – Get Rating) by 68.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,519 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,649 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ovintiv were worth $330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ovintiv by 5.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,790,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,253,000 after buying an additional 396,726 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Ovintiv by 63.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,950,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,397 shares in the last quarter. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Ovintiv by 24.9% during the third quarter. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,100,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,621,000 after purchasing an additional 618,203 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Ovintiv by 12.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,481,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,191,000 after purchasing an additional 267,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Ovintiv by 321.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,396,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827,966 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ovintiv Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of OVV opened at $32.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 2.78. Ovintiv Inc. has a one year low of $32.07 and a one year high of $63.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.11.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.84). The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Ovintiv had a net margin of 33.45% and a return on equity of 23.98%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ovintiv Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This is an increase from Ovintiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Ovintiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ovintiv news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.62, for a total transaction of $136,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,404.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OVV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ovintiv from $40.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ovintiv from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Ovintiv from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Ovintiv from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Ovintiv from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.79.

About Ovintiv

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Ovintiv Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids. It operates through USA Operations, Canadian Operations, and Market Optimization segments. The company's principal assets include Permian in west Texas and Anadarko in west-central Oklahoma; and Montney in northeast British Columbia and northwest Alberta.