Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Shares Up 4.9% – Here’s What Happened

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)’s stock price traded up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $7.74 and last traded at $7.72. 2,678,026 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 29% from the average session volume of 2,075,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Ecopetrol from $8.50 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.50.

Ecopetrol Stock Up 5.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $15.89 billion, a PE ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.24.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $8.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 13.92%. Equities research analysts expect that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 258.6% during the second 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol during the first quarter worth approximately $125,000. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol during the first quarter worth approximately $141,000.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

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.