SG Americas Securities LLC Takes $86,000 Position in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 10,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EC. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 1.6% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 887,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,924,000 after acquiring an additional 13,707 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 81.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 425,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,796,000 after acquiring an additional 190,293 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth $1,061,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 61.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,783 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 21,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenorchy Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 16.5% during the third quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd now owns 53,583 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 7,584 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.17.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

NYSE EC opened at $10.25 on Friday. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 52-week low of $7.21 and a 52-week high of $12.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.77. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.06 billion, a PE ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.20.

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.