Encompass Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in Ovintiv Inc. $OVV

Key Points

• Encompass Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Ovintiv Inc. by 19.7%, now holding approximately 1.6 million shares, which represents about 2.7% of their investment portfolio.
• Several research firms have updated their ratings and target prices for Ovintiv, with Barclays raising its target price to $57.00 and maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Ovintiv recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, which will yield 2.9%, with a payout ratio of 53.10% as of the latest filing.

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV - Free Report) by 19.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,635,482 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 269,332 shares during the period. Ovintiv makes up about 2.7% of Encompass Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.63% of Ovintiv worth $69,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ovintiv by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,423,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,302,113,000 after buying an additional 959,711 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 383.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,258,570 shares of the company's stock worth $396,267,000 after purchasing an additional 7,344,796 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 3.5% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,437,152 shares of the company's stock worth $361,110,000 after purchasing an additional 284,656 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,708,987 shares of the company's stock worth $244,338,000 after purchasing an additional 146,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 69.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,572,732 shares of the company's stock worth $238,513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ovintiv from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $48.00 price objective on Ovintiv and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ovintiv from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ovintiv from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Ovintiv to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.07.

Ovintiv Price Performance

Shares of OVV traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.92. 1,219,402 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,510,776. The stock has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.08. Ovintiv Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.80 and a 52 week high of $47.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.46 and a 200-day moving average of $38.79.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.02). Ovintiv had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 6.46%.The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Ovintiv Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Ovintiv's payout ratio is presently 53.10%.

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.