Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Green Plains, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with one sell, five hold, and one buy rating, reflecting mixed expectations for the stock.
• BMO Capital Markets and Bank of America have both lowered their target prices for Green Plains to $7.00, indicating caution among analysts regarding the company's performance.
• In its latest earnings report, Green Plains missed earnings estimates, posting a loss of ($0.41) per share against an expected loss of ($0.28), with revenue down 10.7% year-over-year.

Shares of Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.8333.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Green Plains from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 target price (up from $4.50) on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Green Plains to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Green Plains

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 5,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 54.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 3,002 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 115.2% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 2,313.4% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 9,340 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 8,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000.

Green Plains Stock Up 0.1%

GPRE stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $11.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,692,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,090,848. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Green Plains has a 12 month low of $3.14 and a 12 month high of $14.67. The company has a market capitalization of $728.48 million, a PE ratio of -4.63 and a beta of 1.21.

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

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.