Ecopetrol Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:EC)

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 18,383 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 353% compared to the typical volume of 4,058 call options.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 301.3% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 221.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,685 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EC shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. HSBC upgraded Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Ecopetrol stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.81. 2,198,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,266,210. The company has a market capitalization of $32.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.71. Ecopetrol has a 1 year low of $8.27 and a 1 year high of $16.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 8.70%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.6612 per share. This represents a yield of 481.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 29th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.62%.

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.