Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.33.

GPRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Green Plains from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Green Plains from $28.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Green Plains from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Craig Hallum reduced their price target on shares of Green Plains from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Green Plains by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,206,000 after acquiring an additional 32,666 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 2.2% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 32,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Green Plains by 6.1% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 60,799 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Masters Capital Management LLC grew its position in Green Plains by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Masters Capital Management LLC now owns 700,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,184,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Green Plains by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,380 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 2,184 shares during the period.

Green Plains Price Performance

Shares of GPRE stock opened at $17.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -14.30 and a beta of 1.58. Green Plains has a twelve month low of $14.35 and a twelve month high of $36.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by ($0.48). Green Plains had a negative net margin of 2.43% and a negative return on equity of 7.86%. The firm had revenue of $597.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $654.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.20) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Green Plains will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.