Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.14.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EC shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fundamenta Capital S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth about $20,135,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,407,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after purchasing an additional 41,075 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,190,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,534,000 after purchasing an additional 102,505 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 935,639 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,375,000 after purchasing an additional 64,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Militia Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Militia Capital Partners LP now owns 556,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,922,000 after purchasing an additional 77,000 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $16.56 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.89. The company has a market cap of $34.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. Ecopetrol has a fifty-two week low of $8.27 and a fifty-two week high of $16.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 8.84% and a return on equity of 12.38%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecopetrol will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.6612 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 481.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 29th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is 73.86%.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

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.