Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $7.28 and last traded at $7.34, with a volume of 273897 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ecopetrol from $8.50 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.15). Ecopetrol had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 13.92%. The company had revenue of $8.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.49 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barings LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at $1,830,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,890,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 58.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,192,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol in the second quarter worth approximately $1,476,000.

Ecopetrol Company Profile

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.