Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Shares Gap Down to $21.93

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $21.93, but opened at $20.67. Green Plains shares last traded at $21.11, with a volume of 299,467 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPRE. TheStreet lowered Green Plains from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Green Plains in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Green Plains in a report on Monday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Green Plains from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Green Plains from $33.50 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.40.

Green Plains Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.03 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.04). Green Plains had a negative net margin of 2.83% and a negative return on equity of 9.67%. The firm had revenue of $712.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.66) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Green Plains Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Green Plains

In related news, Director Ejnar A. Knudsen III purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.73 per share, for a total transaction of $98,920.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,011,778.49. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Green Plains

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

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.