Sage Investment Counsel LLC Invests $91,000 in Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,500 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 81.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 425,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,796,000 after buying an additional 190,293 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter worth approximately $1,061,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the fourth quarter worth approximately $790,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter worth approximately $458,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol in the third quarter worth approximately $228,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ecopetrol from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $7.50 to $9.50 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.38.

Ecopetrol Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of EC stock opened at $9.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Ecopetrol S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $7.21 and a fifty-two week high of $12.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.78.

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.