Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $16.75 and last traded at $16.6410, with a volume of 674562 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $15.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EC shares. Citigroup lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. HSBC raised shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecopetrol has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $34.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $14.22 and its 200 day moving average is $12.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 12.39%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th were issued a $0.6612 dividend. This represents a yield of 481.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is presently 54.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EC. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth $991,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 141.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 362,904 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 212,904 shares during the last quarter. Fundamenta Capital S.A. acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth $20,135,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 520,754 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 69,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 3rd quarter worth $398,000.

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.