Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes $466,000 Position in Ecopetrol S.A. $EC

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 31,108 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EC. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $342,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 46.1% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 23,584 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 7,438 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 97.7% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 42,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 21,230 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the first quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Finally, Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the first quarter valued at approximately $192,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EC has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of EC stock opened at $16.75 on Friday. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.27 and a 12 month high of $17.75. The company has a market capitalization of $34.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.06. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 8.84%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol 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.