Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Price Target Raised to $15.00

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $14.00 to $15.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GPRE. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Green Plains from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.29.

Green Plains Trading Up 2.4%

GPRE stock opened at $16.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.94, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.45. Green Plains has a 52 week low of $3.14 and a 52 week high of $17.94.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GPRE. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 263.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 457,280 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 331,326 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Green Plains in the second quarter valued at approximately $197,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the third quarter valued at approximately $924,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the third quarter valued at approximately $868,000. Finally, Wolf Hill Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Green Plains by 19.6% during the third quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP now owns 1,291,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,355,000 after purchasing an additional 211,303 shares in the last quarter.

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.