Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) Short Interest Down 24.8% in July

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,600,000 shares, a decrease of 24.8% from the June 30th total of 4,790,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on OVV shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Ovintiv in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ovintiv in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.33.

Ovintiv Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of OVV stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.05. 3,239,559 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,449,678. The firm has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a PE ratio of 6.43, a PEG ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 2.63. Ovintiv has a 1 year low of $39.68 and a 1 year high of $55.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.57 and a 200 day moving average of $47.97.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Ovintiv had a net margin of 18.12% and a return on equity of 17.74%. Analysts expect that Ovintiv will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is currently 16.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ovintiv news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total transaction of $204,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,315,568.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Steven W. Nance sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,450. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard John Mayson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.14, for a total transaction of $204,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,279 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,568.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OVV. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ovintiv during the 4th quarter worth about $67,149,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ovintiv by 1,560.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,451,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,738,000 after buying an additional 1,363,865 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ovintiv by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,055,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,072,000 after buying an additional 1,024,931 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Ovintiv by 2,602.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 715,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,410,000 after buying an additional 688,690 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Ovintiv by 6,830.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 411,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,334,000 after buying an additional 405,123 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.