Analysts Set Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Price Target at $11.27

Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.27.

Several research firms have issued reports on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.30 to $11.90 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $8.50 in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,302,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in Ecopetrol by 74.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 208,230 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 88,710 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 104,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 74,194 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 29,651 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 31,872 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE EC opened at $11.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Ecopetrol has a 1 year low of $8.90 and a 1 year high of $13.14. The firm has a market cap of $24.13 billion, a PE ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.27.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 10.84%. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecopetrol will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.7999 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 19.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 25th. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is 89.50%.

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.