Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Shares Up 4.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) were up 4.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $17.47 and last traded at $17.4920. 1,298,701 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 3,004,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecopetrol from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ecopetrol in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $13.54.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $35.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.78.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 11.46%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter worth $333,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth $324,000. AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at $271,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 9.4% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 102,505 shares during the period.

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.