Citigroup Upgrades Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) to "Buy"

Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $14.00 price target on the oil and gas company's stock, up from their prior price target of $9.00.

EC has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ecopetrol from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.38.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $10.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,778,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,769,105. The stock has a market cap of $21.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.20. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $8.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.79. Ecopetrol has a one year low of $7.21 and a one year high of $12.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 21,641 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 7,875 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,441,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,019,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 968,440 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $7,670,000 after acquiring an additional 105,637 shares during the last quarter.

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.