Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GPRE. Stephens raised 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Green Plains in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Green Plains currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.29.

Green Plains Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GPRE opened at $15.80 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.34. Green Plains has a 52-week low of $6.88 and a 52-week high of $18.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.88 and a beta of 1.19.

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. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 0.80% and a positive return on equity of 2.86%. The company had revenue of $445.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.14) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Green Plains will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Green Plains during the third quarter worth $3,351,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Green Plains by 825.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP now owns 1,291,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,355,000 after purchasing an additional 211,303 shares during the last quarter. Kailix Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Kailix Advisors LLC now owns 1,369,211 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,418,000 after purchasing an additional 213,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Green Plains during the third quarter valued at about $1,978,000.

About Green Plains

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.