Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE Shares Acquired by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) by 112.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,823,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 966,069 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Green Plains were worth $17,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the third quarter worth about $3,351,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 263.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 457,280 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 331,326 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the third quarter worth about $924,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the third quarter worth about $868,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 825.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 436,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,275,000 after purchasing an additional 389,102 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GPRE shares. Zacks Research raised Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Stephens lifted their target price on Green Plains from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Green Plains in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.29.

Green Plains Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:GPRE opened at $14.97 on Friday. Green Plains, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.08 and a 12-month high of $18.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -45.36 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.43. Green Plains had a positive return on equity of 2.86% and a negative net margin of 0.80%.The company had revenue of $445.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.14) earnings per share. Green Plains’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast 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.