Private Advisor Group LLC Buys 5,544 Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,876 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 5,544 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Ecopetrol were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EC. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 20.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 58,220 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 9,878 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecopetrol by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,086,272 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,739,000 after purchasing an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ecopetrol during the 3rd quarter worth $131,000.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EC opened at $11.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ecopetrol S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.93 and a twelve month high of $13.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.67 and its 200 day moving average is $11.86. The company has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 4.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.26.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 10.84%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be paid a $0.7999 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 19.5%. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is 89.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on EC. Morgan Stanley lowered Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.30 to $11.90 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.27.

About Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol SA operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services.