Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Shares Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)’s stock price traded up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $17.47 and last traded at $17.4920. Approximately 1,298,701 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 3,004,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EC shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Ecopetrol from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Citigroup cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ecopetrol in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $13.54.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 0.3%

The firm has a market cap of $35.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecopetrol by 221.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,685 shares during the period. Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 34.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

Ecopetrol SA (NYSE: EC) is Colombia’s state-controlled integrated oil and gas company and the country’s largest oil producer. The company’s operations span the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the hydrocarbon value chain, including exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, refining of petroleum products, transportation and storage via pipeline networks, and the marketing and sale of fuels and petrochemical feedstocks. Ecopetrol serves domestic demand in Colombia and maintains a portfolio of international investments and partnerships across the Americas.

In upstream activities, Ecopetrol focuses on exploration and development of onshore and offshore fields to sustain and grow hydrocarbon production.