Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Stock Price Down 5.6% – What’s Next?

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)’s share price traded down 5.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $15.58 and last traded at $15.6580. 1,576,607 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 3,261,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Ecopetrol to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

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 fifty day moving average price is $14.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.67. The company has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 12.39%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecopetrol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th were issued a $0.6612 dividend. This represents a yield of 481.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 301.3% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,685 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period.

About Ecopetrol

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.