Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The oil and gas company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 14.50% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $10.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.45 billion.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

NYSE EC traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.35. 1,595,062 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,804,940. The company has a market capitalization of $31.55 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Ecopetrol has a 52-week low of $9.20 and a 52-week high of $18.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.98 and its 200-day moving average is $15.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on EC. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecopetrol from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.70 price target on shares of Ecopetrol in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.95.

About Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol S.A. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1951, it is majority-owned by the Colombian government and is one of the country’s major producers of oil and natural gas. The company explores for and produces hydrocarbons, transports them through pipeline networks, and refines crude oil into products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Its operations also include petrochemicals and natural gas activities, with refining facilities in Colombia. Ecopetrol’s business is centered in Colombia, with additional oil and gas activities in other countries.