Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $17.80 and last traded at $17.64, with a volume of 2176 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecopetrol has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.54.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.51. 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 stock has a market cap of $36.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.44.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 11.46%.The company had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 221.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,685 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th 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.