In the latest close session, Ecopetrol (EC) was up +1.86% at $9.31. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.23%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.72%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.86%.
The oil and natural gas exploration company's shares have seen a decrease of 2.87% over the last month, not keeping up with the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 1.86% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.45%.
The upcoming earnings release of Ecopetrol will be of great interest to investors. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.39, indicating a 9.3% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.83 billion, down 19.07% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.16 per share and revenue of $28.27 billion, which would represent 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. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 14.29% lower within the past month. At present, Ecopetrol boasts a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
Digging into valuation, Ecopetrol currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.88. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11.02, which means Ecopetrol is trading at a discount to the group.
The Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 202, putting it in the bottom 19% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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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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