Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Short Interest Up 6.8% in July

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,610,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the July 15th total of 9,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EC. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at $781,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Glenorchy Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth about $338,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 18,949 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on EC. StockNews.com cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.27.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

EC stock opened at $10.41 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.23. Ecopetrol has a 1 year low of $9.35 and a 1 year high of $13.14.

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.