Ecopetrol (EC) closed at $8.74 in the latest trading session, marking a -3.32% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.07% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 1.12%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 1.37%.
Heading into today, shares of the oil and natural gas exploration company had gained 1.8% over the past month, outpacing the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 2.63% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.08%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Ecopetrol in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.39, signifying a 9.30% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $6.83 billion, reflecting a 19.07% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.16 per share and a revenue of $28.27 billion, representing changes of -30.12% and -13.68%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Ecopetrol should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 14.29% decrease. Ecopetrol is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Ecopetrol has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.79 right now. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 10.41 for its industry.
The Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 221, positioning it in the bottom 11% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Ecopetrol S.A. (EC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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