Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Plans — Dividend of $0.52

Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) declared a — dividend on Friday, March 14th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.5202 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, July 7th. This represents a yield of 30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th.

Ecopetrol has increased its dividend by an average of 155.2% annually over the last three years.

Ecopetrol Price Performance

EC stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,552,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,290,487. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.22. Ecopetrol has a 1 year low of $7.21 and a 1 year high of $12.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecopetrol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $9.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecopetrol presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.00.

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.