Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 96,909 Shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,147,859 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 96,909 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of Ecopetrol worth $24,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ecopetrol by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 696,412 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 271,296 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecopetrol by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 540,695 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 7,009 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 341,687 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,706,000 after buying an additional 25,310 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,060,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 48,309.7% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 144,745 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 144,446 shares during the period.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock traded up $0.27 on Friday, hitting $9.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,500,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,346,341. The stock has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.86. The business's 50 day moving average is $9.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Ecopetrol S.A. has a twelve month low of $7.21 and a twelve month high of $12.67.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5202 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 34.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Ecopetrol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Ecopetrol from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ecopetrol from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.00.

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.