Ecopetrol (EC) ended the recent trading session at $8.15, demonstrating a -1.09% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.02% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.38%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.04%.

The oil and natural gas exploration company's stock has dropped by 10.04% in the past month, falling short of the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 7.26% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.77%.

The upcoming earnings release of Ecopetrol will be of great interest to investors. In that report, analysts expect Ecopetrol to post earnings of $0.63 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 3.28%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $8.02 billion, reflecting a 7.53% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.

EC's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.04 per share and revenue of $32.41 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -14.29% and -2.32%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Ecopetrol. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 12.95% decrease. At present, Ecopetrol boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Ecopetrol is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 4.04. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 5.02 for its industry.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - Emerging Markets industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 210, placing it within the bottom 17% of over 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.