Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Price Target Raised to $13.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) had its price target boosted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $11.00 to $13.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 19.15% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC upgraded Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.93.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of EC stock traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $16.08. The stock had a trading volume of 5,692,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,345,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Ecopetrol has a fifty-two week low of $8.27 and a fifty-two week high of $16.45. The firm has a market cap of $33.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.27.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 8.70%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $839,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 64,897 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 18,895 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,583,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,948,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $665,000.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

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.