Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.1429.

A number of research firms have weighed in on GPRE. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Green Plains from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Green Plains from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPRE. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 880,217 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,626,000 after buying an additional 216,875 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its position in Green Plains by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 417,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,089,000 after acquiring an additional 36,002 shares during the period. Finally, Numerai GP LLC purchased a new position in Green Plains in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,062,000.

Green Plains Trading Down 2.3%

GPRE opened at $15.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.08. Green Plains has a 1-year low of $3.14 and a 1-year high of $16.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.46.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.10. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 8.70% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The business had revenue of $428.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.86) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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.