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

Shares of Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.2857.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GPRE. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Green Plains from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPRE. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 152,731 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $741,000 after buying an additional 58,767 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 559,216 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,712,000 after buying an additional 229,353 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 2,759 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains in the 2nd quarter worth about $297,000.

Green Plains Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GPRE opened at $15.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Green Plains has a fifty-two week low of $5.37 and a fifty-two week high of $18.94. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -45.63 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.92.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.43. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 0.80% and a positive return on equity of 2.86%. The business had revenue of $445.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $532.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.14) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Green Plains will post 2.1 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.