Wall Street Zen Upgrades Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) to "Sell"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Gevo from “strong sell” to “sell,” but analyst sentiment remains mixed; MarketBeat reports a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $2.55.
• Gevo shares opened at $1.17, near their 52-week low of $1.15 and below both the 50-day ($1.50) and 200-day ($1.64) moving averages.
• The company narrowly beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting a loss of $0.01 per share and $46.5 million in revenue, but continues to post substantial losses, including a negative net margin of 119.93%.

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

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GEVO. Northland Securities set a $3.75 price objective on Gevo in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gevo from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Gevo in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Gevo to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Gevo from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $2.55.

Gevo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GEVO opened at $1.17 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $1.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 2.19. The company has a market cap of $289.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 1.14. Gevo has a 1-year low of $1.15 and a 1-year high of $2.97.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Paul D. Bloom sold 31,096 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total transaction of $48,198.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,452,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,251,069.65. This trade represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director James J. Barber purchased 50,000 shares of the 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 120,000 shares in the company, valued at $184,800. This trade represents a 71.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 313,286 shares of company stock worth $476,443 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gevo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Gevo during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Gevo during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new position in Gevo in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Gevo during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Gevo by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 135,539 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 27,636 shares in the last quarter. 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 focused on producing low-carbon alternatives to petroleum-based products. The company develops technologies that convert renewable raw materials, including carbohydrates and other bio-based feedstocks, into hydrocarbons and alcohols for use in transportation fuels, chemicals and materials.

Gevo's product and technology portfolio has included renewable isobutanol, ethanol, sustainable aviation fuel and other renewable hydrocarbons. The company also develops renewable natural gas and related solutions, as well as technologies intended to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions across the fuel and chemical supply chain.

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