UBS Group AG Has $4.70 Million Holdings in Ecopetrol S.A. $EC

UBS Group AG cut its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 469,130 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 146,662 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Ecopetrol were worth $4,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at approximately $324,000. AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 9.4% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 102,505 shares during the period.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Ecopetrol stock opened at $13.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.07. The stock has a market cap of $28.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.46. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.27 and a 12-month high of $15.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 8.70%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC upgraded Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ecopetrol in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 price target on Ecopetrol and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ecopetrol from $10.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.40.

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.