Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Short Interest Update

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,720,000 shares, an increase of 10.2% from the March 31st total of 6,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on GPRE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Green Plains from $33.50 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. TheStreet lowered Green Plains from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Green Plains in a report on Monday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.40.

Green Plains Price Performance

Green Plains stock opened at $21.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Green Plains has a one year low of $19.44 and a one year high of $36.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.42 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.64.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.04). Green Plains had a negative net margin of 2.83% and a negative return on equity of 9.67%. The company had revenue of $712.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Green Plains will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Green Plains news, Director Ejnar A. Knudsen III bought 4,000 shares of Green Plains stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.73 per share, with a total value of $98,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 40,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,011,778.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Green Plains during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Green Plains by 50.4% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Green Plains in the 4th quarter worth about $88,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains in the 3rd quarter valued at about $164,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the 4th quarter valued at about $196,000.

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.