Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 9,748 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 689% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,236 put options.

Green Plains Price Performance

NASDAQ:GPRE traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.96. 783,283 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,405,683. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.50. Green Plains has a 52-week low of $3.14 and a 52-week high of $19.80. The company has a market cap of $324.51 million, a P/E ratio of -3.64 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.37). Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 11.88% and a negative net margin of 3.36%. The firm had revenue of $601.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $605.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.81) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GPRE. UBS Group lowered shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $20.50 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $6.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Green Plains from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Bank of America cut Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $10.00 to $4.50 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Green Plains

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Green Plains by 71.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 142,851 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after acquiring an additional 59,564 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 1,122.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 704,125 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,675,000 after purchasing an additional 646,507 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Green Plains by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Green Plains by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 46,241 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 13,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Green Plains by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the period.

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.