7,030 Shares in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,030 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EC. Sagil Capital LLP bought a new position in Ecopetrol during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,691,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 369.3% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 277,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,217,000 after purchasing an additional 218,600 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 490,047 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,675,000 after purchasing an additional 134,531 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 349,486 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,047,000 after purchasing an additional 112,086 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth $781,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley cut Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ecopetrol from $10.30 to $11.90 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.27.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $12.06 on Tuesday. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.59 and a 52-week high of $13.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 14.77%. The business had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be paid a $0.7999 dividend. This represents a yield of 19.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.44%.

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.