Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Shares Down 13.1% – What’s Next?

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE)’s stock price fell 13.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $9.70 and last traded at $9.7990. 1,660,255 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 2,008,889 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GPRE. Roth Capital cut Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on Green Plains from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Green Plains Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $634.34 million, a P/E ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.48. The business had revenue of $508.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.55 million. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 13.65% and a negative net margin of 6.34%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Green Plains, Inc. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total transaction of $294,372.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 60,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,906.58. This trade represents a 33.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Broad Bay Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Green Plains by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,566,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,446,000 after acquiring an additional 355,685 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,860,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Green Plains by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,590,954 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,716,000 after purchasing an additional 189,478 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Green Plains by 201.2% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,386,961 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,363,000 after purchasing an additional 926,553 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in Green Plains by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,165,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,027,000 after purchasing an additional 504,433 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.