Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $197,000 Investment in Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 32,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Green Plains in the first quarter worth $8,860,000. CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in Green Plains by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,165,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,027,000 after buying an additional 504,433 shares during the period. Broad Bay Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,566,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,446,000 after buying an additional 355,685 shares in the last quarter. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 805.5% in the 1st quarter. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. now owns 382,563 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after buying an additional 340,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 2,026.7% during the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 295,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 281,706 shares during the period.

Green Plains Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of GPRE opened at $10.29 on Friday. Green Plains, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.14 and a 52 week high of $12.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $718.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.05 and a 200-day moving average of $8.27.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.48. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 13.65% and a negative net margin of 6.34%.The business had revenue of $508.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. Green Plains’s quarterly revenue was down 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Green Plains, Inc. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Green Plains

In other news, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total value of $294,372.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 60,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,906.58. This represents a 33.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GPRE shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Oppenheimer set a $15.00 price objective on Green Plains and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.00.

Green Plains Company Profile

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.