Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.27.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Ecopetrol from $10.30 to $11.90 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $11.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.89. Ecopetrol has a 12-month low of $8.59 and a 12-month high of $13.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 14.77%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecopetrol will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.7999 per share. This represents a yield of 19.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 20.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 58,220 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 9,878 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 37.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 490,047 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,675,000 after acquiring an additional 134,531 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $35,739,000 after buying an additional 29,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth about $131,000.

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.