Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $616,000 Position in Ecopetrol S.A. $EC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 43,271 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ecopetrol during the second quarter valued at about $93,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth about $333,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth about $324,000. AXA S.A. bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth about $271,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,190,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,534,000 after buying an additional 102,505 shares in the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

NYSE EC opened at $17.84 on Thursday. 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 S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.57 and a twelve month high of $18.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.04. The firm has a market cap of $36.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.