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

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.54.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Ecopetrol from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecopetrol from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research raised Ecopetrol from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 45,011 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 4,835 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,709,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $616,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth $168,000.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 1.5%

EC opened at $16.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.59. Ecopetrol has a twelve month low of $8.57 and a twelve month high of $18.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.46.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $11.72 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Ecopetrol will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

Ecopetrol SA is an integrated energy company headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia, and one of the country’s principal petroleum and natural gas producers. Its operations include the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the gathering, processing and commercialization of hydrocarbons.

The company also operates through businesses involved in crude oil and refined-product transportation, refining, petrochemicals and fuel distribution. Its refining activities include the Barrancabermeja refinery and the Cartagena refinery, while its transportation operations are conducted primarily through subsidiaries and affiliated infrastructure businesses.

Founded in 1951 as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos, Ecopetrol has expanded beyond Colombia through international exploration and production activities and investments in energy infrastructure.