Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE Holdings Raised by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) by 97.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 290,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,898 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Green Plains were worth $4,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the second quarter worth $156,703,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Green Plains during the first quarter valued at $1,166,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Green Plains by 9.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,643,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,039,000 after purchasing an additional 145,741 shares in the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP purchased a new position in Green Plains in the second quarter valued at about $2,115,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Green Plains in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,193,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GPRE. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Green Plains Stock Down 2.9%

GPRE opened at $14.90 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.04 and a 200-day moving average of $15.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Green Plains, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.65 and a 1-year high of $19.65.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $446.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $542.38 million. Green Plains had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 14.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Green Plains, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Green Plains 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.