Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.35.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EC. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 price objective on Ecopetrol and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. HSBC raised Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecopetrol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE EC opened at $14.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Ecopetrol has a 12 month low of $7.80 and a 12 month high of $15.62. The company has a market capitalization of $30.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.11.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 7.64%.The business had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Ecopetrol will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be issued a $0.6612 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 436.0%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $93,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 448,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,965,000 after acquiring an additional 81,312 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $271,000.

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.