Brokerages Set Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) PT at $11.27

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.27.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.30 to $11.90 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EC. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Ecopetrol by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,291,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $145,537,000 after acquiring an additional 105,172 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,086,272 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,739,000 after purchasing an additional 29,731 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,652,000. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 510,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,048,000 after buying an additional 5,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 136.6% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 334,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,988,000 after buying an additional 193,150 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 0.0 %

EC opened at $11.18 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.88 and a 200 day moving average of $11.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ecopetrol has a 12 month low of $9.92 and a 12 month high of $13.14.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $7.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.19 billion. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 14.35%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecopetrol will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.