Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.14 EPS

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The oil and gas company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.14), FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.01 billion. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 12.39%.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

EC stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $13.02. The stock had a trading volume of 2,750,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,306,388. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.86. Ecopetrol has a fifty-two week low of $8.27 and a fifty-two week high of $15.62.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th were paid a $0.6612 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 481.0%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.78%.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $116,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EC shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC raised shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 price target on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.40.

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.