Ecopetrol (EC) closed at $13.97 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.82% move from the prior day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.49%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.9%.
The stock of oil and natural gas exploration company has fallen by 8.41% in the past month, lagging the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 4.6% and the S&P 500's gain of 12.8%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Ecopetrol in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Ecopetrol to post earnings of $0.43 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 19.44%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $7.27 billion, down 2.96% from the year-ago period.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.95 per share and a revenue of $31.77 billion, representing changes of 0% and +32.72%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Ecopetrol. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable 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 past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 48.1% upward. At present, Ecopetrol boasts a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
In terms of valuation, Ecopetrol is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 7.04. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 7.81.
We can also see that EC currently has a PEG ratio of 0.89. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.65.
The Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 5, placing it within the top 3% of over 250 industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these 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 Report
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