Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on GPRE. Stephens boosted their target price on Green Plains from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Green Plains presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.29.

Green Plains Stock Up 0.2%

GPRE stock opened at $16.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of -50.94 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.87. Green Plains has a 52 week low of $3.97 and a 52 week high of $18.94. 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 (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $445.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.53 million. Green Plains had a positive return on equity of 2.86% and a negative net margin of 0.80%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.14) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Green Plains will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Green Plains by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,696,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,025,000 after buying an additional 645,170 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Green Plains by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,629,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,772,000 after buying an additional 85,982 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $21,438,000 after buying an additional 10,237 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake 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 buying an additional 966,069 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 712,337 shares during the period.

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.