Ovintiv: Strong Free Cash Flow, Deleveraging, and Strategic Portfolio Upside Support Buy Rating

BMO Capital analyst Phillip Jungwirth maintained a Buy rating on Ovintiv yesterday and set a price target of $52.00.

Phillip Jungwirth has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors, including Ovintiv’s strong operational execution, rising free cash flow, and an improving balance sheet. He highlights the company’s ability to deliver solid production and cash generation even as capital spending trends lower, supported by better-than-expected natural gas realizations and disciplined activity in key basins such as the Permian and Montney. Jungwirth also notes that near-term free cash flow is robust enough to support debt reduction, putting Ovintiv on track toward its leverage goals and setting the stage for a resumption of share repurchases in the near future.
In addition, he views Ovintiv’s strategic asset portfolio as a key driver of upside, pointing to its strengthened Permian position and extensive, high-quality Montney inventory as core value pillars. The pro-forma 2026 outlook, underpinned by the NuVista acquisition and potential value realization from a planned Anadarko asset sale, supports meaningful growth in both oil and gas volumes while still generating substantial free cash flow and shareholder returns. Jungwirth believes that Ovintiv’s shares continue to trade at a discount relative to their fundamental value, and that management’s actions to address prior investor concerns and enhance the company’s asset base should support multiple expansion. Taken together, these elements justify his Outperform/Buy recommendation on the stock.

In another report released today, Barclays also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $55.00 price target.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 27 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of OVV in relation to earlier this year.