Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,300,000 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the October 31st total of 14,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Ecopetrol Trading Up 0.4 %

Ecopetrol stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $7.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,502,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,118,090. The firm has a market cap of $16.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.48. Ecopetrol has a 1 year low of $7.21 and a 1 year high of $13.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecopetrol

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 81.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 425,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,796,000 after buying an additional 190,293 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at $1,890,000. Barings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at about $1,830,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,476,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol during the third quarter worth $1,061,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on EC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ecopetrol from $8.50 to $7.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

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.