Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Upgraded at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

EC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $8.70 price target on shares of Ecopetrol in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.35.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 0.7%

Ecopetrol stock opened at $13.86 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.20 and a 200-day moving average of $10.43. Ecopetrol has a twelve month low of $7.80 and a twelve month high of $14.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EC. Oaktree Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 12.3% during the second quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 3,549,822 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,416,000 after buying an additional 387,700 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 529.6% in the second quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 165,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 139,381 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 73.9% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 300,866 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after buying an additional 127,856 shares during the period. Truffle Hound Capital LLC boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 83.3% during the second quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC now owns 550,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,868,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at $7,443,000.

About Ecopetrol

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.