Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) from a "hold" to a strong-buy, but analyst coverage is mixed — MarketBeat shows one Strong Buy, three Holds and one Sell, leaving a consensus rating of Hold with a $10.35 target price.
• The stock opened at $14.17, has a market cap of $29.13 billion and a P/E of 11.91, with a 52‑week range of $7.80–$15.62; the company reported $0.20 EPS on $7.64 billion revenue last quarter and analysts project ~1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Institutional interest has risen recently, including Fundamenta Capital's new ~$20.1 million position and sizable increases from Brevan Howard and other funds.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on EC. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Finally, Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 price target on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.35.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $14.17 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company's 50-day moving average price is $13.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.42. Ecopetrol has a 52 week low of $7.80 and a 52 week high of $15.62. The stock has a market cap of $29.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.49.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EC. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $991,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 141.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 362,904 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 212,904 shares during the period. Fundamenta Capital S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,135,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 247.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 97,912 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 69,760 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 520,754 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 69,080 shares during the period.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

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.

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