Fundamenta Capital S.A. Takes Position in Ecopetrol S.A. $EC

Key Points

• Fundamenta Capital S.A. bought 2,009,495 shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) in Q4 — a ~$20.14 million position that is about 13.8% of Fundamenta’s portfolio and roughly 0.10% of Ecopetrol’s shares per the SEC filing.
• Ecopetrol declared an annual dividend of $0.6612 per share payable May 7 (record/ex-dividend April 29), while analysts’ consensus on the stock is a "Reduce" with an average price target of $10.35.

Fundamenta Capital S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,009,495 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $20,135,000. Ecopetrol comprises about 13.8% of Fundamenta Capital S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Fundamenta Capital S.A. owned about 0.10% of Ecopetrol as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth approximately $333,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth approximately $324,000. AXA S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth approximately $271,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 9.4% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,190,268 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $10,534,000 after buying an additional 102,505 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

EC opened at $13.55 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 has a market cap of $27.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50 day moving average is $13.44 and its 200 day moving average is $11.36. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 12-month low of $7.80 and a 12-month high of $15.62.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.6612 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 436.0%. Ecopetrol's payout ratio is currently 86.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EC. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 22nd. HSBC raised shares of Ecopetrol to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecopetrol from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Bradesco Corretora set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Ecopetrol and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $10.35.

Ecopetrol 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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