Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) versus Ceres (CERE) Critical Analysis

Gevo (NASDAQ: GEVO) and Ceres (NASDAQ:CERE) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

14.8% of Gevo shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Gevo shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Gevo and Ceres’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gevo	-108.86%	-35.92%	-23.45%
Ceres	-106.36%	-319.82%	-78.47%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Gevo and Ceres, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gevo	0	0	2	0	3.00
Ceres	0	0	0	0	N/A

Gevo currently has a consensus price target of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,990.59%. Given Gevo’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Gevo is more favorable than Ceres.

Risk & Volatility

Gevo has a beta of 2.92, meaning that its share price is 192% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ceres has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Gevo and Ceres’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gevo	$25.94 million	0.36	-$19.18 million	N/A	N/A
Ceres	N/A	N/A	N/A	($1.82)	-0.22

Ceres has higher revenue, but lower earnings than Gevo.

Summary

Gevo beats Ceres on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

Gevo Company Profile

Gevo, Inc. (Gevo) is a renewable chemicals and next generation biofuels company. The Company has developed a technology that uses a combination of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, chemistry and chemical engineering to focus primarily on the production of isobutanol, as well as related products from renewable feedstock. It has two operating segments: the Gevo, Inc. segment and the Gevo Development/Agri-Energy segment. Its Gevo, Inc. segment is responsible for research and development activities related to the future production of isobutanol, including the development of its biocatalysts, the production and sale of biojet fuel, its Retrofit process and the next generation of chemicals and biofuels that will be based on its isobutanol technology. Its Gevo Development/Agri-Energy segment is responsible for the operation of its Agri-Energy Facility and the production of ethanol, isobutanol and related products.

Ceres Company Profile

Ceres, Inc. is an agricultural biotechnology company that develops and markets seeds and traits to produce crops for feed, forages, sugar and other markets. The Company uses a combination of plant breeding, biotechnology and bioinformatics to develop seed products and biotechnology traits. Its Forage sorghum seeds are used for growing feed for livestock, including dairy and beef cattle. Its technology platforms have application across various end markets, including food, feed, fiber and fuel. It has developed bioinformatics software, Persephone, to deal with the data generated in plant genomics. Its Persephone enables storage and access to datasets, as well as data visualizations to view genetic data from public sources and databases. It markets its seed products under the name Blade. Its customers include dairies and livestock producers, agri-industrial facilities, individual growers and grower cooperatives. It deploys a range of research and development methods and tools.