Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $13.00. The stock had previously closed at $14.61, but opened at $15.90. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Ecopetrol shares last traded at $16.2310, with a volume of 1,646,826 shares traded.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. HSBC upgraded Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.93.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fundamenta Capital S.A. bought a new stake in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter worth $20,135,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,407,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,107,000 after acquiring an additional 41,075 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,190,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,534,000 after acquiring an additional 102,505 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 935,639 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,375,000 after acquiring an additional 64,614 shares during the period. Finally, Militia Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Militia Capital Partners LP now owns 556,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,922,000 after acquiring an additional 77,000 shares during the period.

Ecopetrol Trading Down 1.8%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.11 and a 200-day moving average of $12.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $32.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.46.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 8.70%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.6612 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 481.0%. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is presently 54.62%.

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.