Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Cosan S.A. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:CSAN)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $4.42, but opened at $4.63. Cosan shares last traded at $4.6050, with a volume of 1,960,534 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Cosan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Cosan from $5.00 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cosan in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC set a $5.00 target price on shares of Cosan in a report on Friday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cosan has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.75.

Cosan Stock Up 7.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.49. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of -3.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.09 billion. Cosan had a negative return on equity of 36.85% and a negative net margin of 32.24%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cosan S.A. Sponsored ADR will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its stake in Cosan by 280.1% during the third quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 418,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 308,340 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cosan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $480,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cosan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,049,000. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Cosan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $144,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cosan in the second quarter worth approximately $77,000.

Cosan Company Profile

Cosan Limited (NYSE: CSAN) is a Brazilian diversified energy and logistics group focused on agribusiness, fuels, and infrastructure. Its core activities include the cultivation of sugarcane, production of ethanol and sugar, generation of bioelectricity from bagasse, and distribution of fuels under the Raízen joint venture with Shell. Through its subsidiary Moove, Cosan is a leading global producer of base oils and lubricants, while Comgás serves as one of Brazil’s largest natural gas distributors.

Founded in 1936 in the state of São Paulo, Cosan has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions.