Green Plains Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 5,881 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 451% compared to the average daily volume of 1,068 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GPRE shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Green Plains from $13.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $20.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Green Plains presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Green Plains by 433.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Dauntless Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Green Plains during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Green Plains by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 5,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Green Plains during the fourth quarter worth $72,000.

Green Plains Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of Green Plains stock opened at $3.48 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.80. Green Plains has a 12-month low of $3.26 and a 12-month high of $22.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $225.26 million, a PE ratio of -2.56 and a beta of 1.20.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.64). Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 11.88% and a negative net margin of 3.36%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil.