Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Shares Up 12.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE)’s share price traded up 12.1% during trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $20.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Green Plains traded as high as $18.78 and last traded at $19.2920. 364,971 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 1,503,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.21.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GPRE. Wall Street Zen cut Green Plains from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Green Plains from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Green Plains

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Green Plains during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,561,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Green Plains by 112.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,823,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,873,000 after acquiring an additional 966,069 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Green Plains by 155.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,114,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,338,000 after acquiring an additional 678,515 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Green Plains by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,696,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,025,000 after purchasing an additional 645,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Green Plains by 619.8% during the fourth quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 747,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,270,000 after purchasing an additional 643,392 shares in the last quarter.

Green Plains Trading Up 11.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.27 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.43. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 0.80% and a positive return on equity of 2.86%. The firm had revenue of $445.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.14) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Green Plains, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Green Plains Company Profile

Green Plains Inc is a leading producer of fuel-grade ethanol and related co-products in the United States. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company operates an integrated network of biorefineries that convert corn and other grains into renewable fuels. Through its production facilities, Green Plains supplies ethanol to domestic fuel markets and export channels, supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote cleaner-burning transportation options.

Beyond ethanol, Green Plains manufactures a range of co-products that add value throughout the agricultural supply chain.