Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,147,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 96,909 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Ecopetrol worth $24,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter worth about $790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 696,412 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 271,296 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,060,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth approximately $179,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 48,309.7% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 144,745 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 144,446 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EC opened at $8.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a PE ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.81 and its 200-day moving average is $8.79. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 1-year low of $7.21 and a 1-year high of $12.67.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.5202 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a yield of 34.2%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.00.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

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.