Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $12.03 and traded as high as $14.19. Ecopetrol shares last traded at $13.7350, with a volume of 3,411,830 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on EC shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 target price on Ecopetrol and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ecopetrol in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.40.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.46.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 8.70%.The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th were issued a $0.6612 dividend. This represents a yield of 481.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 29th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecopetrol by 301.3% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecopetrol by 221.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,685 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter worth approximately $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.