Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup downgraded Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ecopetrol from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of EC opened at $16.34 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Ecopetrol has a 52 week low of $8.45 and a 52 week high of $17.75. The stock has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.18.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 8.84%. On average, analysts expect that Ecopetrol will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 221.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,685 shares during the period. Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 34.8% during 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 in 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.