Wall Street Zen Upgrades Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) to Buy

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Green Plains from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.25.

Green Plains Price Performance

Shares of GPRE opened at $13.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Green Plains has a twelve month low of $3.14 and a twelve month high of $15.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $956.81 million, a P/E ratio of -7.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.08 and a 200-day moving average of $10.22.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $428.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.56 million. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a negative return on equity of 8.70%. The firm’s revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.86) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Green Plains by 192.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Green Plains by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Green Plains during the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000.

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.