The most recent trading session ended with Ecopetrol (EC) standing at $8.81, reflecting a -0.9% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.17% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.39%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.05%.

The oil and natural gas exploration company's stock has dropped by 14.19% in the past month, falling short of the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 10.33% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.94%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Ecopetrol in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.58, indicating a 16% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $7.35 billion, showing a 7.89% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Ecopetrol. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 3.17% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. 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 4.85. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 7.63, so one might conclude that Ecopetrol is trading at a discount comparatively.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 142, positioning it in the bottom 43% 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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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

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