Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Stock Dropped to Buy by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

GPRE has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research upgraded Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Green Plains from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.75.

Green Plains Price Performance

NASDAQ:GPRE traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.32. The company had a trading volume of 707,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,429,530. Green Plains has a 52-week low of $9.29 and a 52-week high of $19.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $14.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.29. The company has a market capitalization of $940.66 million, a PE ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.47. Green Plains had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $495.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $509.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Green Plains will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Green Plains by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,613 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 16.1% in the third quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC now owns 11,905 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Green Plains in the second quarter worth $27,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Green Plains in the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 21.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter.

Green Plains Company Profile

Green Plains Inc. is a U.S. agribusiness and renewable fuels company that produces low-carbon biofuels and agricultural ingredients. Founded in 2004, the company operates biorefineries primarily in the Midwest, where corn is processed into fuel-grade ethanol and related products. Its co-products include distillers grains, which are used in animal feed, and corn oil, which can be used in feed and renewable fuel applications. Green Plains also works to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of its production processes and develop higher-value ingredients from agricultural materials.