Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on EC. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecopetrol from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecopetrol presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.34.

Ecopetrol Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE EC opened at $16.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.46. Ecopetrol has a 52 week low of $8.57 and a 52 week high of $18.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.61.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 18.16%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 12.0% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 45,011 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 4,835 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,709,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth about $616,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at about $168,000.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

Ecopetrol SA is an integrated energy company headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia, and one of the country’s principal petroleum and natural gas producers. Its operations include the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the gathering, processing and commercialization of hydrocarbons.

The company also operates through businesses involved in crude oil and refined-product transportation, refining, petrochemicals and fuel distribution. Its refining activities include the Barrancabermeja refinery and the Cartagena refinery, while its transportation operations are conducted primarily through subsidiaries and affiliated infrastructure businesses.

Founded in 1951 as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos, Ecopetrol has expanded beyond Colombia through international exploration and production activities and investments in energy infrastructure.