Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms also recently commented on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ecopetrol from $8.50 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.50.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

EC stock opened at $7.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a PE ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.01. Ecopetrol has a one year low of $7.21 and a one year high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $141,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Ecopetrol by 58.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at $1,890,000. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 258.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the period.

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.