Wall Street Zen Downgrades Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Gevo to “strong sell”, although the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $2.55.
• Gevo shares opened at $1.40, near their 12-month low of $1.37, while the company reported a quarterly loss of $0.01 per share and negative net margins of 119.93%.
• Insider activity was mixed: a director sold 247,642 shares, while another director purchased 50,000 shares; insiders own 7.09% of the company, and institutional investors hold 35.17%.

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on GEVO. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gevo from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Gevo from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Northland Securities set a $3.75 price target on shares of Gevo in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $1.90 price target on shares of Gevo in a report on Friday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.55.

Gevo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GEVO opened at $1.40 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $1.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.75. The company has a market cap of $346.14 million, a PE ratio of -1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Gevo has a twelve month low of $1.37 and a twelve month high of $2.97.

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The energy company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.01. Gevo had a negative return on equity of 6.50% and a negative net margin of 119.93%.The company had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $46.40 million. On average, analysts predict that Gevo will post -0.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Gevo

In related news, Director Patrick R. Gruber sold 247,642 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.51, for a total transaction of $373,939.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,323,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,018,919.88. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James J. Barber acquired 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1.54 per share, with a total value of $77,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 120,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,800. This represents a 71.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 313,286 shares of company stock worth $476,443 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in Gevo during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Gevo by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 36,961 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 15,106 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Gevo during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in shares of Gevo during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Gevo in the first quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.17% of the company's stock.

Gevo Company Profile

Gevo, Inc is a renewable fuels and chemicals company that develops alternatives to petroleum-based products. Its technology platform is designed to convert renewable carbohydrate feedstocks into alcohols and hydrocarbon-based fuels and chemicals, including sustainable aviation fuel, renewable gasoline and other low-carbon products.

The company also produces ethanol, animal feed and corn oil through its Gevo North Dakota operations. Gevo has pursued technologies and projects intended to reduce the lifecycle carbon intensity of its products, including the use of renewable energy, carbon capture and sequestration, and renewable natural gas.

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