Panagora Asset Management Inc. Buys 19,417 Shares of Ovintiv Inc. $OVV

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ovintiv Inc. by 4.7%, purchasing an additional 19,417 shares, bringing its total ownership to 428,864 shares valued at approximately $18.36 million.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Charles Schwab Investment Management and Vanguard Group, have significantly raised their positions in Ovintiv, highlighting strong institutional interest as they collectively own around 83.81% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have varying price targets for Ovintiv, with a consensus target price of $53.07, as the company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, yielding 2.8%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 428,864 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,417 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned 0.17% of Ovintiv worth $18,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ovintiv by 383.8% during the 1st 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. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 243.6% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,564,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,870,000 after buying an additional 1,818,337 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ovintiv in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,865,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ovintiv in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,603,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ovintiv by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,423,206 shares of the company's stock worth $1,302,113,000 after acquiring an additional 959,711 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OVV. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ovintiv from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $48.00 price target on Ovintiv and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Citigroup set a $54.00 target price on Ovintiv and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ovintiv from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ovintiv from $46.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ovintiv currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.07.

Ovintiv Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of OVV stock traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,948,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,510,425. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.21 and a 200 day moving average of $38.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 1.08. Ovintiv Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.80 and a 1-year high of $47.18.

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

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Ovintiv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.