Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 1,717,229 Shares of Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its position in Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) by 64.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 954,235 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,717,229 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 1.46% of Green Plains worth $4,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 54.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 115.2% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 2,313.4% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 9,340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 8,953 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Green Plains during the first quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Green Plains during the first quarter valued at $51,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Oppenheimer upgraded Green Plains from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target (up from $4.50) on shares of Green Plains in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.83.

Green Plains Trading Up 4.5%

Green Plains stock opened at $10.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Green Plains, Inc. has a one year low of $3.14 and a one year high of $14.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $676.68 million, a PE ratio of -4.30 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $8.88 and its 200 day moving average is $6.17.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.13). Green Plains had a negative net margin of 6.34% and a negative return on equity of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $552.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.18 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Green Plains, Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current 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.