Anfield Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,949 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Anfield Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecopetrol were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth about $85,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 3rd quarter valued at $131,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 3rd quarter worth $158,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 9,225 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,795 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 2,769 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.30 to $11.90 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.27.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EC opened at $11.85 on Friday. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.59 and a 12-month high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.90.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 66.73%. The business had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter. Analysts expect that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.7999 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. This represents a yield of 19.5%. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is 92.44%.

About Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol SA operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services.