Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Stock Price Down 5.6% – What’s Next?

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)’s share price dropped 5.6% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $15.58 and last traded at $15.6580. Approximately 1,576,607 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 3,261,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecopetrol currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.67. The stock has a market cap of $32.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 12.39%. Analysts forecast that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EC. Fundamenta Capital S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,135,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,542,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 833.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 341,880 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 305,266 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 109.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 466,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,294,000 after acquiring an additional 244,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,583,000.

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.