Capital Fund Management S.A. Invests $1.52 Million in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new position in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 192,334 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,523,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter valued at $592,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 126.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 26,914 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 15,032 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 17,575 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 1,703 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the 4th quarter worth $13,760,000. Finally, X Square Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter worth about $412,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Ecopetrol from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ecopetrol from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.00.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EC traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.13. 1,500,032 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,346,341. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day moving average is $9.76 and its 200 day moving average is $8.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Ecopetrol S.A. has a one year low of $7.21 and a one year high of $12.67.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid 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 payout ratio is currently 79.90%.

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.