Short Interest in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Increases By 6.2%

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,470,000 shares, an increase of 6.2% from the February 13th total of 4,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

Shares of EC opened at $9.89 on Friday. Ecopetrol has a 1-year low of $8.59 and a 1-year high of $19.81. The stock has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a PE ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Ecopetrol Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.1479 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 20.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 19th. Ecopetrol’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.40 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. HSBC cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $12.50 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ecopetrol in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter valued at about $187,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 156.7% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 97,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 59,400 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecopetrol by 215.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,381,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $24,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,411 shares during the period. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,158,000. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ecopetrol

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Ecopetrol SA engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Transportation and Logistics, and Refining and Petrochemicals. The Exploration and Production segment deals with oil and gas exploration and production activities.