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

Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.14.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at $93,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth $333,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth $324,000. AXA S.A. purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth $271,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 9.4% in the second 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.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

EC stock opened at $17.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.28. The stock has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.44. Ecopetrol has a one year low of $8.45 and a one year high of $17.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 8.84% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Ecopetrol will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.