Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV) by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 659,141 shares of the company’s stock after selling 223,498 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ovintiv were worth $25,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Ovintiv by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 320,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,288,000 after buying an additional 13,536 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 16.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 270,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,527,000 after acquiring an additional 37,341 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ovintiv in the third quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ovintiv by 55.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ovintiv by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,533,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,296,000 after acquiring an additional 205,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ovintiv from $48.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Ovintiv from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded Ovintiv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Ovintiv from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ovintiv from $60.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.59.

Ovintiv Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE OVV opened at $38.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 2.63. Ovintiv Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.90 and a 52 week high of $55.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Ovintiv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ovintiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.92%.

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.