Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Rating Lowered to Underweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) was downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $8.50 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $12.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 2.97% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on EC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America downgraded Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecopetrol has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.83.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Ecopetrol stock opened at $8.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.05. Ecopetrol has a one year low of $8.65 and a one year high of $13.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecopetrol by 42.8% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109,263 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 32,766 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,864 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Straight Path Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Straight Path Wealth Management now owns 14,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,192,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Ecopetrol by 39.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,520 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 6,629 shares during the period.

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.