Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Shares Down 5.3% – What’s Next?
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemShares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC – Get Free Report) fell 5.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $13.44 and last traded at $13.3780. 1,455,206 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 3,460,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.12.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have issued reports on EC. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.35.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on EC
Ecopetrol Stock Performance
The firm has a market cap of $28.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.
Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be issued a $0.6612 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 436.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is currently 55.46%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $991,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 141.9% in the third quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 362,904 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 212,904 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 247.8% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 97,912 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 69,760 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 15.3% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 520,754 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after acquiring an additional 69,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter valued at $398,000.
About Ecopetrol
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.