Blue Trust Inc. Buys 3,655 Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,352 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,655 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ecopetrol were worth $57,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ecopetrol by 58.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the 1st quarter valued at $125,000. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth about $141,000. Finally, Straight Path Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Straight Path Wealth Management now owns 14,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Trading Down 1.3 %

Ecopetrol stock opened at $7.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.48. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 52 week low of $7.62 and a 52 week high of $13.14.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $8.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.49 billion. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 13.92% and a return on equity of 9.42%. Analysts expect that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ecopetrol from $8.50 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.50.

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.