Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,720,000 shares, a growth of 10.2% from the March 31st total of 6,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPRE shares. TheStreet downgraded Green Plains from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research 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 research 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 research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Green Plains from $33.50 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Green Plains from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Green Plains has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Green Plains

In other Green Plains news, Director Ejnar A. Knudsen III acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.73 per share, with a total value 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 3.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,519 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Future Fund LLC raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 11,456 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 1.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 58,248 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 50.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 26,565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the last quarter.

Green Plains Price Performance

Shares of GPRE stock opened at $20.12 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.73 and its 200 day moving average is $23.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Green Plains has a 1-year low of $19.44 and a 1-year high of $36.02. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.42 and a beta of 1.60.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $712.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.66) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Green Plains will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.