Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Rating) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.40.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Craig Hallum upped their target price on Green Plains from $44.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Stephens cut Green Plains from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Bank of America started coverage on Green Plains in a research note on Friday, May 12th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Todd A. Becker sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $1,050,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 751,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,529.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Todd A. Becker sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $1,050,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 751,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,529.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.31, for a total value of $939,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,194,570.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 123,641 shares of company stock valued at $3,773,270 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPRE. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Green Plains by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 127,032 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 34,787 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Green Plains by 58.5% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 24,564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 9,066 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Green Plains by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 148,266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,517 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 46,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,978,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $278,410,000 after purchasing an additional 82,288 shares during the last quarter.

Green Plains Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of GPRE stock opened at $29.49 on Wednesday. Green Plains has a 1 year low of $26.33 and a 1 year high of $41.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.28. The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of -12.29 and a beta of 1.73.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by ($0.83). Green Plains had a negative net margin of 3.66% and a negative return on equity of 14.94%. The company had revenue of $832.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $823.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.16) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Green Plains will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About Green Plains

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Green Plains, Inc engages in the production of fuel-grade ethanol and corn oil, the provision of grain handling, and storage commodity marketing and distribution services. It operates through the following segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers’ grain, and corn oil at ethanol plants in Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Texas.