Merit Financial Group LLC Buys New Holdings in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundation Resource Management Inc. grew its stake in Ovintiv by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 89,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,616,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Ovintiv by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake in shares of Ovintiv by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 31,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after buying an additional 8,639 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ovintiv by 128.4% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 7,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ovintiv during the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on OVV shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ovintiv from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of Ovintiv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ovintiv from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Ovintiv from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.81.

Ovintiv Stock Performance

NYSE OVV opened at $44.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Ovintiv Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.90 and a 1 year high of $55.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 2.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.47.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Ovintiv had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 17.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ovintiv Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is presently 15.92%.

Ovintiv Company 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.