Cetera Investment Advisers Has $87,000 Position in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its position in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 31.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,932 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,097 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Ecopetrol were worth $87,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,147,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $24,931,000 after purchasing an additional 96,909 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at $13,760,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 850,753 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,738,000 after acquiring an additional 158,585 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 63.8% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 271,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 540,695 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,282,000 after acquiring an additional 7,009 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Ecopetrol stock opened at $8.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.68. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 52 week low of $7.21 and a 52 week high of $12.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.79 and a 200-day moving average of $8.89.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5202 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 34.2%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.96%.

Ecopetrol 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.