Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Short Interest Update

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,030,000 shares, an increase of 10.8% from the March 15th total of 8,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $11.00 to $8.50 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.00 to $10.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecopetrol has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EC. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 27.5% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 14,371 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 3,099 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 43,798 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 98.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,776,889 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374,075 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the first quarter valued at about $2,311,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ecopetrol by 5.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,777,900 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $51,669,000 after buying an additional 134,703 shares in the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

NYSE:EC opened at $11.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Ecopetrol has a fifty-two week low of $8.59 and a fifty-two week high of $13.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.88.

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 issued 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 currently 94.42%.

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.