Two Sigma Investments LP Purchases New Stake in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 181,956 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,441,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,147,859 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $24,931,000 after purchasing an additional 96,909 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,760,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 968,440 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,670,000 after purchasing an additional 105,637 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 850,753 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,738,000 after purchasing an additional 158,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 696,412 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 271,296 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised shares of Ecopetrol from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ecopetrol from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Ecopetrol Stock Up 3.6%

EC traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.00. 2,505,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,434,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $8.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.89. Ecopetrol S.A. has a twelve month low of $7.21 and a twelve month high of $12.67. The stock has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.82.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.5202 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 34.2%. Ecopetrol's payout ratio is presently 90.96%.

About Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol SA operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services.