Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Upgraded at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $17.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $10.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm cut shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Green Plains from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Green Plains presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.22.

Green Plains Price Performance

GPRE stock opened at $15.50 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.79. Green Plains has a 1 year low of $3.14 and a 1 year high of $15.61.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $428.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.56 million. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 8.70% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.86) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new position in Green Plains in the 4th quarter worth approximately $173,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Green Plains by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 49,816 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 3,554 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Green Plains by 338.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $640,000 after buying an additional 50,418 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Green Plains by 375.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 159,390 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after buying an additional 125,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in Green Plains in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,521,000.

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.