Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Tudor Pickering

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Tudor Pickering from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GPRE. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Green Plains from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (up previously from $4.50) on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Green Plains has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.57.

Green Plains Stock Performance

Shares of GPRE stock opened at $10.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $657.67 million, a P/E ratio of -4.18 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.58. Green Plains has a 52 week low of $3.14 and a 52 week high of $14.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.13). Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 13.65% and a negative net margin of 6.34%.The company had revenue of $552.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.38) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Green Plains

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 shares were sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total value of $294,372.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains during the 1st quarter worth $8,860,000. Clifford Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 201.2% in the second 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 in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in Green Plains by 76.3% during the second quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,165,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,027,000 after buying an additional 504,433 shares during the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC raised its holdings in Green Plains by 159.4% during the first quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC now owns 740,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after buying an additional 454,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Green Plains during the second quarter valued at about $2,276,000.

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.