Candriam S.C.A. Acquires Shares of 841,000 Ecopetrol S.A. $EC

Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 841,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,443,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 16.7% during the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 17,975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 2,575 shares during the last quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 221,044 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 2,863 shares in the last quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 124,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EC shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ecopetrol in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $10.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.98. Ecopetrol S.A. has a one year low of $7.41 and a one year high of $11.05.

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.