Estate Counselors LLC Buys New Stake in Ovintiv Inc. $OVV

Estate Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 74,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,916,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Ovintiv by 42.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 174,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,030,000 after purchasing an additional 51,562 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Ovintiv by 296.2% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 79,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 59,069 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ovintiv during the third quarter valued at $1,816,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Ovintiv by 412.9% during the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 36,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 29,602 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Ovintiv by 466.2% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 132,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,352,000 after purchasing an additional 109,142 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on OVV shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of Ovintiv in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Ovintiv in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. National Bank Financial increased their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Ovintiv in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.42.

Ovintiv Price Performance

NYSE:OVV opened at $60.84 on Monday. Ovintiv Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.26 and a 52 week high of $62.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $55.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.71.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.41. Ovintiv had a return on equity of 12.00% and a net margin of 13.94%.The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ovintiv Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Insider Transactions at Ovintiv

In other news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total transaction of $261,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 45,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,398,414.20. The trade was a 9.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Meghan Nicole Eilers sold 11,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total transaction of $634,461.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,963,159.76. This represents a 17.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ovintiv

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.