Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Receives $13.14 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.14.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at about $58,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth about $168,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 8.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 35,037 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 2,699 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 15,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,417,000.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $16.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55. Ecopetrol has a 52-week low of $8.27 and a 52-week high of $17.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 8.84% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecopetrol will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

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.