California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Holdings in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 470,162 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,169 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Ovintiv worth $20,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ovintiv by 10.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 528,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,157,000 after buying an additional 51,261 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Ovintiv by 15.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 761,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,215,000 after buying an additional 101,978 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ovintiv by 10.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,029,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,816,000 after buying an additional 2,484,554 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Ovintiv by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,124,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,500,000 after buying an additional 27,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank purchased a new position in Ovintiv during the third quarter worth approximately $18,097,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ovintiv

In other news, EVP Rachel Maureen Moore sold 9,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.65, for a total transaction of $471,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,662,012.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $303,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,630.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rachel Maureen Moore sold 9,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.65, for a total value of $471,045.00. Following the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,564 shares of company stock valued at $4,660,818. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ovintiv Trading Up 0.2 %

OVV opened at $53.26 on Monday. Ovintiv Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $55.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.63.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.41. Ovintiv had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 19.16%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Ovintiv Inc. will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Ovintiv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on OVV. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Ovintiv from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ovintiv from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ovintiv from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ovintiv from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Ovintiv from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.71.

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.