Ecopetrol (EC) closed the latest trading day at $10.12, indicating a -1.36% change from the previous session's end. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.01%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.43%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.26%.

The the stock of oil and natural gas exploration company has risen by 19.16% in the past month, leading the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 4.3% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.26%.

The upcoming earnings release of Ecopetrol will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on March 4, 2025. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.36, marking a 51.35% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $7.99 billion, showing a 6.95% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Ecopetrol. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 8.21% higher. As of now, Ecopetrol holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Ecopetrol is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 5.46. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 7.94.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, putting it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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