Analysts Set Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Target Price at $9.17

Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.38.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EC shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $9.50 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ecopetrol by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 425,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,796,000 after purchasing an additional 190,293 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at $790,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter valued at about $179,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,783 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 21,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol in the third quarter worth $1,061,000.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EC opened at $10.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Ecopetrol has a one year low of $7.21 and a one year high of $12.90. The company has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.79.

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.