Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Receives $11.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.00 to $10.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st.

Ecopetrol Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of EC opened at $11.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.51 and its 200-day moving average is $11.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ecopetrol has a 12-month low of $8.59 and a 12-month high of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be given a $0.7999 dividend. This represents a yield of 19.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 25th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is 94.42%.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Ecopetrol by 45.5% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,161,233 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $73,403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239,289 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ecopetrol by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,086,272 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,739,000 after acquiring an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ecopetrol by 215.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,381,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $24,936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,411 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ecopetrol by 85.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,518,254 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,581,000 after acquiring an additional 701,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth $15,652,000.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

Ecopetrol SA operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services.