Short Interest in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) Grows By 26.8%

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,910,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the January 31st total of 5,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on OVV. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $48.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ovintiv from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.88.

Ovintiv Price Performance

Shares of OVV opened at $38.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.02. Ovintiv has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $55.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Ovintiv’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ovintiv

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OVV. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in Ovintiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,348,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Ovintiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,949,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ovintiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,289,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Ovintiv by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 546,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,112,000 after acquiring an additional 7,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Ovintiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

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.