Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also commented on EC. HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.40.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 2.7%

EC stock opened at $12.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.84 and its 200 day moving average is $11.77. Ecopetrol has a one year low of $8.10 and a one year high of $15.62.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 10.89%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecopetrol will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th were given a $0.6612 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 481.0%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.78%.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 301.3% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 221.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,685 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter worth about $88,000.

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.