Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Stephens upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Stephens now has a $17.00 price target on the stock. Green Plains traded as high as $14.89 and last traded at $14.5260, with a volume of 139331 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.85.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Roth Mkm lowered shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Green Plains currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPRE. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 192.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Green Plains by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains in the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains during the 2nd quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Green Plains during the third quarter worth $67,000.

Green Plains Stock Up 4.8%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.72, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.54.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $428.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.56 million. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a negative return on equity of 8.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.86) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Green Plains, Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Green Plains Company Profile

Green Plains Inc is a leading producer of fuel-grade ethanol and related co-products in the United States. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company operates an integrated network of biorefineries that convert corn and other grains into renewable fuels. Through its production facilities, Green Plains supplies ethanol to domestic fuel markets and export channels, supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote cleaner-burning transportation options.

Beyond ethanol, Green Plains manufactures a range of co-products that add value throughout the agricultural supply chain.