Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on EC. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.35.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 1.4%

Ecopetrol stock opened at $14.34 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.55 and its 200-day moving average is $11.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55. Ecopetrol has a 1 year low of $7.80 and a 1 year high of $15.62. The company has a market cap of $29.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.49.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 10.89%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecopetrol will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.6612 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 436.0%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 253,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 301.3% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Ping Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 119,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 2,036 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,676 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 2,079 shares during the period.

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.