Wall Street Zen Downgrades Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) to Hold

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 target price on Ecopetrol and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $8.70 price target on shares of Ecopetrol in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.35.

Ecopetrol Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of EC stock opened at $14.78 on Friday. Ecopetrol has a 12 month low of $7.80 and a 12 month high of $15.37. The stock has a market cap of $30.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.62.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oaktree Capital Management LP increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 12.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 141.9% in the third quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 362,904 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 212,904 shares in the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 139,381 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 247.8% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 97,912 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 69,760 shares in the last quarter.

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.