Ecopetrol (EC) Competitors

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Is EQNR or EC more profitable?

Ecopetrol has a net margin of 13.92% compared to Equinor ASA's net margin of 8.95%. Equinor ASA's return on equity of 19.97% beat Ecopetrol's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equinor ASA	8.95%	19.97%	6.78%
Ecopetrol	13.92%	9.42%	3.31%

Do analysts recommend EQNR or EC?

Equinor ASA currently has a consensus price target of $26.90, indicating a potential upside of 20.68%. Ecopetrol has a consensus price target of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.26%. Given Equinor ASA's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Equinor ASA is more favorable than Ecopetrol.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equinor ASA	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44
Ecopetrol	3 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.25

Which has more volatility & risk, EQNR or EC?

Equinor ASA has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecopetrol has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of EQNR or EC?

5.5% of Equinor ASA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Equinor ASA shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor EQNR or EC?

Ecopetrol received 89 more outperform votes than Equinor ASA when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 56.20% of users gave Equinor ASA an outperform vote while only 52.98% of users gave Ecopetrol an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Equinor ASA	Outperform Votes 213 56.20%	Underperform Votes 166 43.80%
Ecopetrol	Outperform Votes 302 52.98%	Underperform Votes 268 47.02%

Is EQNR or EC a better dividend stock?

Equinor ASA pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Ecopetrol pays an annual dividend of $2.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 29.1%. Equinor ASA pays out 35.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecopetrol pays out 97.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Does the media refer more to EQNR or EC?

In the previous week, Equinor ASA had 7 more articles in the media than Ecopetrol. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Equinor ASA and 6 mentions for Ecopetrol. Equinor ASA's average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat Ecopetrol's score of 0.74 indicating that Equinor ASA is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Equinor ASA	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ecopetrol	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, EQNR or EC?

Ecopetrol has higher revenue and earnings than Equinor ASA. Ecopetrol is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equinor ASA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equinor ASA	$104.81B	0.59	$11.89B	$3.26	6.84
Ecopetrol	$133.44T	0.00	$25.27B	$2.27	3.37

Summary

Equinor ASA beats Ecopetrol on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.