Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Reduces Stock Position in Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE

Key Points

• Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC reduced its stake in Green Plains by 2.8% in Q3, selling 126,172 shares and now holds 4,326,191 shares (~6.19%) worth about $38.0 million.
• Analyst coverage is mixed—several firms raised price targets (e.g., Oppenheimer to $16, Stephens to $17) while Zacks cut to a "strong sell"; the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $12.25.
• Green Plains posted an EPS beat ($0.17 vs. $0.07) but missed revenue ($428.9M vs. $536.6M), reported negative net margin (-5.8%) and ROE (-8.7%), and sell-side analysts forecast -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE - Free Report) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,326,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 126,172 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned about 6.19% of Green Plains worth $38,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Green Plains by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Green Plains by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Green Plains by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,435 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 2,759 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPRE. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Stephens raised shares of Green Plains from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research lowered Green Plains from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Green Plains from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.25.

Green Plains Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ GPRE opened at $15.83 on Friday. Green Plains, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.14 and a 52 week high of $16.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of -8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.46.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $428.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.56 million. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a negative return on equity of 8.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.86) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Green Plains, Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc is a leading producer of fuel-grade ethanol and related co-products in the United States. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company operates an integrated network of biorefineries that convert corn and other grains into renewable fuels. Through its production facilities, Green Plains supplies ethanol to domestic fuel markets and export channels, supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote cleaner-burning transportation options.

Beyond ethanol, Green Plains manufactures a range of co-products that add value throughout the agricultural supply chain.

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