Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $8.50 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.50.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of EC opened at $7.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Ecopetrol has a twelve month low of $7.33 and a twelve month high of $13.14. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.21.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.15). Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 13.92%. The business had revenue of $8.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.49 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Ecopetrol will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EC. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Ecopetrol by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,291,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $145,537,000 after buying an additional 105,172 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 1.6% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 887,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,924,000 after purchasing an additional 13,707 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 1.2% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 510,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,048,000 after purchasing an additional 5,844 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ecopetrol by 6.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,126 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15,467 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 7.0% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 222,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 14,476 shares during the last quarter.

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.