Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.14.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EC shares. Zacks Research downgraded Ecopetrol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $16.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Ecopetrol has a 1-year low of $8.27 and a 1-year high of $17.75.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 8.84%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecopetrol will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter worth $333,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter worth $324,000. AXA S.A. bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at $271,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,190,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,534,000 after buying an additional 102,505 shares during the last quarter.

About Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol SA (NYSE: EC) is Colombia’s state-controlled integrated oil and gas company and the country’s largest oil producer. The company’s operations span the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the hydrocarbon value chain, including exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, refining of petroleum products, transportation and storage via pipeline networks, and the marketing and sale of fuels and petrochemical feedstocks. Ecopetrol serves domestic demand in Colombia and maintains a portfolio of international investments and partnerships across the Americas.

In upstream activities, Ecopetrol focuses on exploration and development of onshore and offshore fields to sustain and grow hydrocarbon production.