Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) Upgraded by Stephens to “Hold” Rating

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stephens to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on OVV. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ovintiv from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of Ovintiv in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Ovintiv in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Ovintiv in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ovintiv from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.06.

Ovintiv Trading Up 3.8%

OVV opened at $44.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.85. Ovintiv has a 1-year low of $29.80 and a 1-year high of $45.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. Ovintiv had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 2.64%.The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Analysts expect that Ovintiv will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ovintiv news, COO Gregory Dean Givens sold 50,000 shares of Ovintiv stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $2,016,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 105,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,269,616.11. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ovintiv

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Denali Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ovintiv by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 24,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 13,462 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in Ovintiv by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 18,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ovintiv during the fourth quarter worth $839,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ovintiv in the fourth quarter valued at $104,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 37,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

Ovintiv Company 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.