Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases Shares of 50,684 Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 50,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.08% of Green Plains as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 1,122.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 704,125 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,675,000 after acquiring an additional 646,507 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at $4,249,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Green Plains by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,401,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,286,000 after purchasing an additional 250,738 shares in the last quarter. Kailix Advisors LLC increased its stake in Green Plains by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Kailix Advisors LLC now owns 1,316,894 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,484,000 after buying an additional 174,519 shares during the period. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in Green Plains in the 4th quarter worth $1,483,000.

Green Plains Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GPRE opened at $3.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $220.08 million, a PE ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 1.20. Green Plains Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.26 and a fifty-two week high of $22.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.64). Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 11.88% and a negative net margin of 3.36%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Green Plains Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GPRE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $20.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America cut shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $10.00 to $4.50 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $13.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.50.

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.