Analysts Set Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Price Target at $9.86

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.8571.

Several analysts recently weighed in on GPRE shares. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Green Plains from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Green Plains news, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total transaction of $294,372.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,906.58. This represents a 33.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPRE. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 46.5% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 5,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 192.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,002 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 4,808 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised 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 purchasing an additional 8,953 shares during the period.

Green Plains Stock Performance

Shares of Green Plains stock opened at $11.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Green Plains has a twelve month low of $3.14 and a twelve month high of $14.04. The stock has a market cap of $732.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.65 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.75 and its 200 day moving average is $6.91.

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

Green Plains Company Profile

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.