Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,030,000 shares, an increase 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. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Ecopetrol by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 198,961 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,285 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Ecopetrol by 11.1% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 10,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG increased its holdings in Ecopetrol by 10.8% in the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 11,308 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 15.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 17,219 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Ecopetrol Price Performance

NYSE EC opened at $11.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.47. Ecopetrol has a twelve month low of $8.59 and a twelve month high of $13.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.88.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

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

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.