Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens upgraded Green Plains from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.29.

Green Plains Trading Down 5.1%

GPRE stock opened at $16.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.51, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.75. Green Plains has a 52 week low of $3.14 and a 52 week high of $17.94.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $428.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.56 million. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 8.70% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.86) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Green Plains by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 34,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Green Plains by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,936 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Green Plains by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Green Plains by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Green Plains by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 9,304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736 shares in the last quarter.

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.