Ecopetrol S.A. Declares Annual Dividend of $0.66 (NYSE:EC)

Key Points

• Ecopetrol declared an annual dividend of $0.6612 per share, payable May 7 to shareholders of record on April 29 (ex-dividend date April 29), with an indicated yield reported at 436.0%.
• The dividend appears sustainable: Ecopetrol has a current payout ratio of 43.1%, minimal three‑year dividend growth (~0.1%/yr), and analysts forecast $1.95 EPS next year implying a projected payout ratio of about 33.8%.
• The stock recently traded near $13.79 with a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a P/E of 11.58, and an average analyst rating of Hold (consensus target price $10.35).

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Get Free Report) announced an annual dividend on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of 0.6612 per share by the oil and gas company on Thursday, May 7th. This represents a yield of 436.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th.

Ecopetrol has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. Ecopetrol has a payout ratio of 43.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ecopetrol to earn $1.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.8%.

Ecopetrol Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:EC opened at $13.79 on Monday. Ecopetrol has a one year low of $7.80 and a one year high of $15.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $13.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.49.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecopetrol will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecopetrol from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. HSBC raised shares of Ecopetrol to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecopetrol from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.35.

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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