Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Receives $15.43 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.4286.

A number of brokerages have commented on GPRE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Green Plains from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Green Plains from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th.

Green Plains Price Performance

GPRE opened at $16.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.81. Green Plains has a 12-month low of $7.07 and a 12-month high of $19.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.00 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Green Plains by 15.9% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,629,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,772,000 after purchasing an additional 85,982 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,187,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,237 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Green Plains by 112.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,823,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,873,000 after buying an additional 966,069 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Green Plains by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,686,251 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,525,000 after buying an additional 712,337 shares during the period.

About Green Plains

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.