Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,030,000 shares, a growth of 41.1% from the February 28th total of 7,110,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Ovintiv Stock Performance

Shares of OVV traded down $4.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,618,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,053,166. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.01. Ovintiv has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $55.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 2.55.

Ovintiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Ovintiv's payout ratio is 28.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ovintiv

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OVV. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ovintiv by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 65,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,647,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ovintiv by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,385 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ovintiv by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 20,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Ovintiv by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 70,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,837,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ovintiv from $56.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ovintiv from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Ovintiv to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ovintiv from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ovintiv has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.17.

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.