43,271 Shares in Ecopetrol S.A. $EC Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,271 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EC. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 15.1% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 15,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Ecopetrol by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 119,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,200,000 after buying an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecopetrol by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Ecopetrol by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,676 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 35,037 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,699 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ecopetrol in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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 downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Citigroup cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $13.54.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:EC opened at $17.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.04. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.57 and a 52-week high of $18.19.

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

About Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol SA is an integrated energy company based in Colombia and one of the country’s principal producers of oil and natural gas. Its activities include exploration and production of hydrocarbons, crude oil and fuel transportation, refining, petrochemicals, and the distribution and marketing of petroleum products and natural gas.

The company operates through a broad energy infrastructure network that includes pipelines, storage facilities, refineries, ports, and other midstream assets.