Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Position in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) by 121.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 91,383 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,152 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ovintiv were worth $4,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of OVV. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Ovintiv by 119.1% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 61,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 33,453 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Ovintiv by 76.6% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Ovintiv by 19.7% during the third quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 49,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 8,126 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ovintiv during the third quarter valued at $440,000. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ovintiv during the third quarter valued at $1,037,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OVV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ovintiv news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $303,360.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,862,630.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ovintiv news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $303,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,862,630.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rachel Maureen Moore sold 9,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.65, for a total transaction of $471,045.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,662,012.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,564 shares of company stock worth $4,660,818 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Ovintiv Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE OVV opened at $52.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ovintiv Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $55.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.48. The stock has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 2.65.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.41. Ovintiv had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 19.50%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Ovintiv Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is 15.21%.

Ovintiv Profile

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.