Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Plans — Dividend of $0.52

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) announced a — dividend on Thursday, March 13th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.5202 per share by the oil and gas company on Friday, April 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a 7.0% increase from Ecopetrol’s previous — dividend of $0.49.

Ecopetrol has raised its dividend by an average of 155.2% annually over the last three years.

Ecopetrol Stock Up 2.2 %

EC stock opened at $10.45 on Tuesday. Ecopetrol has a 1-year low of $7.21 and a 1-year high of $12.90. The stock has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.80 and its 200 day moving average is $8.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup raised Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecopetrol currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.00.

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.