Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) Trading Up 3.7% - Should You Buy?

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $42.10 and last traded at $41.71. Approximately 897,909 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 3,370,193 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OVV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ovintiv from $56.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Ovintiv in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Williams Trading set a $58.00 target price on shares of Ovintiv in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Ovintiv Trading Up 3.4%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.82. The stock has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.22. Ovintiv had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $2.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Ovintiv Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Ovintiv's payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 7,344,796 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Ovintiv by 1,732.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,387,923 shares of the company's stock worth $137,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,203,087 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ovintiv by 1,577.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,458,881 shares of the company's stock worth $99,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,292 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ovintiv by 69.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,572,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,989 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 243.6% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,564,698 shares of the company's stock worth $103,870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818,337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company's stock.

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.