GAMMA Investing LLC Takes Position in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,030 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter valued at approximately $131,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth $158,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth $185,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Ecopetrol by 76.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 9,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecopetrol by 14.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,795 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 2,769 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $10.30 to $11.90 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ecopetrol from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $8.50 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.27.

Ecopetrol Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:EC opened at $12.06 on Tuesday. Ecopetrol S.A. has a one year low of $8.59 and a one year high of $13.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The oil and gas company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.59 billion for the quarter. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 10.84%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be given a $0.7999 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 19.5%. Ecopetrol’s payout ratio is presently 92.44%.

Ecopetrol 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.