Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.35.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 price objective on Ecopetrol and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC upgraded Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Ecopetrol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 1st quarter worth $150,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 1st quarter worth $466,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 1st quarter worth $342,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 46.1% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 23,584 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 7,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 97.7% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 42,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 21,230 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of EC stock opened at $13.90 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.47. Ecopetrol has a fifty-two week low of $7.80 and a fifty-two week high of $15.62.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 7.64%. Research analysts expect that Ecopetrol will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be paid a $0.6612 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 481.0%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.46%.

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.