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

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

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

Gevo Price Performance

Shares of Gevo stock opened at $1.17 on Friday. Gevo has a twelve month low of $1.15 and a twelve month high of $2.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $289.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 1.14.

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) last posted 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 net margin of 119.93% and a negative return on equity of 6.50%. The firm had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.40 million. Analysts forecast that Gevo will post -0.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Oluwagbemileke Agiri sold 18,223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.54, for a total transaction of $28,063.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 472,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $728,255.22. This trade represents a 3.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Paul D. Bloom sold 31,096 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 2.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 313,286 shares of company stock valued at $476,443 over the last quarter. 7.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEVO. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gevo by 153.8% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,215,194 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,047,000 after buying an additional 1,342,400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Gevo by 166.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,186,704 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,970,000 after buying an additional 1,364,924 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Gevo in the second quarter valued at about $926,000. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. grew its position in Gevo by 23.0% in the first quarter. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. now owns 535,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its position in Gevo by 389.6% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 139,543 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 111,041 shares during the last quarter. 35.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gevo

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.