Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Short Interest Up 10.8% in March

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,030,000 shares, a growth of 10.8% from the March 15th total of 8,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of EC opened at $11.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ecopetrol has a 1-year low of $8.59 and a 1-year high of $13.14.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.7999 per share. This represents a yield of 19.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is currently 94.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the first quarter worth about $182,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter worth about $475,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 65,197 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,515 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 6,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter worth about $486,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EC has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.00 to $10.30 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $8.50 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.