Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 74,696 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $592,000.
A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of EC. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter valued at $13,760,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 696,412 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 271,296 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,060,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 850,753 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,738,000 after purchasing an additional 158,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 48,309.7% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 144,745 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 144,446 shares in the last quarter.
Ecopetrol Trading Up 1.0 %
Shares of NYSE:EC traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $8.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,103,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,850,589. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.79. Ecopetrol S.A. has a twelve month low of $7.21 and a twelve month high of $12.67. The firm has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.
Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5202 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a yield of 34.2%. Ecopetrol's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.90%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
EC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ecopetrol from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecopetrol from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on EC
About Ecopetrol
(
Free Report)
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.
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