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

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,720,000 shares, an increase of 9.1% from the January 15th total of 14,410,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EC. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Ecopetrol by 135.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,352 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 3,655 shares during the last quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 16.5% in the third quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd now owns 53,583 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,584 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter worth $228,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 1.6% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 887,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,924,000 after purchasing an additional 13,707 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the third quarter worth $188,000.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

EC stock opened at $10.26 on Tuesday. Ecopetrol has a 52-week low of $7.21 and a 52-week high of $12.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.75. The company has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.68.

About Ecopetrol

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.