JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Price Target to $7.50

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) had its price target trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $8.50 to $7.50 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on EC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.50.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of Ecopetrol stock opened at $7.61 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Ecopetrol has a 12 month low of $7.59 and a 12 month high of $13.14.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $8.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. Ecopetrol had a net margin of 13.92% and a return on equity of 9.42%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecopetrol will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EC. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 258.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ecopetrol by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the 1st quarter worth about $125,000. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol during the 1st quarter valued at about $141,000.

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.