Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.00 to $10.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $11.50 on Wednesday. Ecopetrol has a 12-month low of $8.59 and a 12-month high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.88.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.7999 per share. This represents a yield of 19.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is currently 94.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 27.5% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 14,371 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 7.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 43,798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 98.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,776,889 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374,075 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in Ecopetrol in the first quarter valued at $2,311,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 5.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,777,900 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,669,000 after acquiring an additional 134,703 shares in the last quarter.

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.