Ecopetrol (EC) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

Ecopetrol (EC) closed the most recent trading day at $10.18, moving -0.2% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.59%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.15%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.07%.

Coming into today, shares of the oil and natural gas exploration company had lost 16.26% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector gained 0.29%, while the S&P 500 gained 7.25%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Ecopetrol as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Ecopetrol to post earnings of $0.85 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 73.47%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.7 billion, up 65.17% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Ecopetrol. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 6.79% lower. Ecopetrol is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Ecopetrol's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 3.09. This valuation marks a no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 3.09.

Investors should also note that EC has a PEG ratio of 0.06 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Oil and Gas - Integrated - Emerging Markets industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.02 as of yesterday's close.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - Emerging Markets industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 24, which puts it in the top 10% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow EC in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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