Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its position in shares of Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) by 49.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 217,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 213,345 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.31% of Green Plains worth $3,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GPRE. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,936 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 1.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 9,304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research lowered Green Plains from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Green Plains has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.43.

Green Plains Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GPRE opened at $17.28 on Friday. Green Plains, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.07 and a 12 month high of $19.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.36 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $445.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.53 million. Green Plains had a positive return on equity of 2.86% and a negative net margin of 0.80%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.14) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Green Plains, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.