Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Short Interest Down 6.5% in November

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,300,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the October 31st total of 14,230,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Ecopetrol by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 887,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,924,000 after purchasing an additional 13,707 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 81.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 425,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,796,000 after purchasing an additional 190,293 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Ecopetrol by 6.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,126 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,045,000 after buying an additional 15,467 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 222,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,492,000 after buying an additional 14,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,890,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ecopetrol from $8.50 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.50.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE EC traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $7.97. 1,502,082 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,118,090. Ecopetrol has a twelve month low of $7.21 and a twelve month high of $13.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.48.

About Ecopetrol

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.