Ovintiv hikes your income

Article Excerpt

OVINTIV INC., $34.53, is a buy. The energy producer (Toronto symbol OVV; Shares o/s: 261.1 million; Market cap: $9.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.0%) operates three core properties: Montney (B.C.), Anadarko (Oklahoma) and Permian (Texas). In addition to natural gas, these fields produce large amounts of oil and natural gas liquids. Thanks to improving oil and gas prices, revenue in the quarter ended June 30, 2021, jumped 133.1%, to $1.69 billion from $726 million (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). Cash flow per share jumped 140.2%, to $2.81 from $1.17. Ovintiv continues to sell its less-important properties to pay down debt. That should let it cut its net debt (total debt net of the cash it holds) from $5.2 billion (or 73% of its market cap) to $3.0 billion by the end of 2023. The company is also raising its quarterly dividend by 49.3%, to $0.14 a share from $0.09375. The new annual rate of $0.56 yields 2.0%. Ovintiv Inc…