Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Short Interest Up 25.3% in February

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,630,000 shares, an increase of 25.3% from the January 31st total of 6,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Green Plains Stock Performance

Shares of GPRE stock opened at $5.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $381.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.34 and a beta of 1.44. Green Plains has a 52 week low of $4.87 and a 52 week high of $24.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.65.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.64). Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 11.88% and a negative net margin of 3.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Green Plains will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GPRE shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Green Plains from $13.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Green Plains in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stephens upgraded shares of Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $20.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPRE. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Green Plains by 433.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Dauntless Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 120.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 3,320 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Green Plains by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 5,450 shares in the last quarter.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil.