Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Saturday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $20.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Green Plains traded as high as $19.65 and last traded at $19.23, with a volume of 5146703 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.21.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GPRE. Zacks Research downgraded Green Plains from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Green Plains from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Green Plains has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.43.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,561,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Green Plains by 112.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,823,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,873,000 after purchasing an additional 966,069 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Green Plains by 155.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,114,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,338,000 after purchasing an additional 678,515 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Green Plains by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,696,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,025,000 after purchasing an additional 645,170 shares during the period. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP raised its position in Green Plains by 619.8% in the 4th quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 747,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,270,000 after purchasing an additional 643,392 shares during the period.

Green Plains Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of -58.27 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.76.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.43. The business had revenue of $445.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.53 million. Green Plains had a positive return on equity of 2.86% and a negative net margin of 0.80%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.14) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Green Plains, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current 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.