Estate Counselors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ovintiv Inc. $OVV

Key Points

• Estate Counselors LLC acquired a new stake of 74,412 shares in Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) during Q4, valued at approximately $2.92 million, while institutional investors hold about 83.81% of the stock.
• Equity analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy on Ovintiv with a consensus price target of $60.42 (15 Buy ratings and 6 Hold ratings).
• Ovintiv beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.39 vs. $0.98), pays a $0.30 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.20, yield ~2.0%), and has seen recent insider selling (director sold 5,000 shares; EVP sold 11,582), with insiders owning 0.85%.

Estate Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 74,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,916,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Ovintiv during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ovintiv in the third quarter worth $36,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ovintiv in the third quarter worth $37,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ovintiv in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Ovintiv by 58.4% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,340 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. 83.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on OVV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Ovintiv in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ovintiv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $62.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of Ovintiv in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ovintiv from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ovintiv presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ovintiv

In other news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 5,000 shares of Ovintiv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total transaction of $261,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 45,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,398,414.20. The trade was a 9.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Meghan Nicole Eilers sold 11,582 shares of Ovintiv stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total transaction of $634,461.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,963,159.76. The trade was a 17.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Ovintiv Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:OVV opened at $60.84 on Monday. Ovintiv Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.26 and a 12 month high of $62.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.57.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.41. Ovintiv had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 12.00%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ovintiv Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ovintiv's payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

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.

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