Equitable Trust Co. Takes Position in Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new position in Green Plains, Inc. by purchasing 28,909 shares worth approximately $174,000 in the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Green Plains, with Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. growing its stake by 805.5% during the first quarter.
• Research reports have mixed ratings for Green Plains, with most analysts currently rating it as a "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.86, despite some upgrades to "Buy" and "Strong Buy."

Equitable Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 28,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $174,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPRE. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Green Plains during the 1st quarter worth $8,860,000. Lumbard & Kellner LLC grew its stake in shares of Green Plains by 159.4% during the 1st quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC now owns 740,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 454,882 shares during the period. Broad Bay Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Green Plains by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,566,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,446,000 after acquiring an additional 355,685 shares during the period. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Green Plains by 805.5% during the 1st quarter. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. now owns 382,563 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 340,313 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPRE has been the subject of several research reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded Green Plains from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on Green Plains from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded Green Plains from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Green Plains from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Green Plains presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.86.

Green Plains Stock Performance

Shares of GPRE opened at $11.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $775.04 million, a PE ratio of -4.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.81. Green Plains, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.14 and a 12-month high of $14.04.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $552.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.18 million. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 6.34% and a negative return on equity of 13.65%. The business's revenue was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.38) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Green Plains, Inc. will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Green Plains

In related news, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total transaction of $294,372.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $575,906.58. This trade represents a 33.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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