Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) was upgraded by Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $14.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $9.00. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 28.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.38.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

EC stock opened at $10.91 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Ecopetrol has a 52-week low of $7.21 and a 52-week high of $12.90. The stock has a market cap of $22.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 81.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 425,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,796,000 after acquiring an additional 190,293 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter worth about $790,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter worth approximately $179,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,783 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 21,703 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth about $1,061,000.

About Ecopetrol

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.