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

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,720,000 shares, a growth of 9.1% from the January 15th total of 14,410,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EC. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 21,641 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 7,875 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth about $1,441,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 4th quarter worth about $3,019,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 968,440 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,670,000 after purchasing an additional 105,637 shares in the last quarter.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of EC stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $10.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,468,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,768,751. Ecopetrol has a 1-year low of $7.21 and a 1-year high of $12.90. The company has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm's 50-day moving average is $8.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Ecopetrol from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ecopetrol from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.38.

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.