Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $15.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Green Plains traded as high as $16.85 and last traded at $16.70, with a volume of 229424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.19.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on GPRE. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Stephens raised Green Plains from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.29.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,696,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,025,000 after purchasing an additional 645,170 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Green Plains by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,629,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,772,000 after buying an additional 85,982 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,187,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,438,000 after acquiring an additional 10,237 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Green Plains by 112.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,823,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,873,000 after acquiring an additional 966,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Green Plains by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,686,251 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,525,000 after acquiring an additional 712,337 shares in the last quarter.

Green Plains Trading Up 2.9%

The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.88 and a 200 day moving average of $11.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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