Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on GEVO. Northland Securities set a $3.75 price target on shares of Gevo in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Gevo from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gevo from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Gevo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.55.

Gevo Stock Down 0.7%

Gevo stock opened at $1.33 on Tuesday. Gevo has a 52 week low of $1.31 and a 52 week high of $2.97. The stock has a market cap of $328.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.49 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.40 million. On average, analysts expect that Gevo will post -0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gevo

In related news, Director Patrick R. Gruber sold 247,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.51, for a total value of $373,939.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,323,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,919.88. The trade was a 6.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Gevo stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total transaction of $48,198.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,452,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,251,069.65. This trade represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 in the last three months. 7.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,364,924 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Gevo by 153.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,215,194 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342,400 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Gevo in the second quarter worth about $926,000. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gevo in the fourth quarter worth about $870,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Gevo by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 135,539 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 27,636 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.17% of the company’s stock.

About Gevo

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.