Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Rating Increased to Buy at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.

Key Points

• Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded Green Plains from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, setting a price target of $14.00, which indicates a potential upside of 45.08% from its previous close.
• Despite the upgrade, the stock has a mixed consensus rating, with three analysts advising to buy, five advising to hold, and two advising to sell, averaging a target price of $9.57.
• Green Plains reported a quarterly loss of ($0.41) EPS, missing estimates and reflecting a 10.7% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $14.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.'s target price indicates a potential upside of 45.08% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on GPRE. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $7.00 target price (up previously from $4.50) on shares of Green Plains in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Green Plains to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Green Plains from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.57.

Green Plains Stock Performance

NASDAQ GPRE opened at $9.65 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $632.70 million, a P/E ratio of -4.02 and a beta of 1.26. Green Plains has a fifty-two week low of $3.14 and a fifty-two week high of $14.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $552.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $578.18 million. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 6.34% and a negative return on equity of 13.65%. Green Plains's revenue for the quarter was down 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.38) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Green Plains will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Green Plains news, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total transaction of $294,372.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 60,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $575,906.58. This represents a 33.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Green Plains

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPRE. Broad Bay Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Green Plains by 16.1% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 355,685 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in Green Plains in the 1st quarter valued at $8,860,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Green Plains by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,590,954 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $7,716,000 after buying an additional 189,478 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Green Plains by 201.2% in the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,386,961 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,363,000 after purchasing an additional 926,553 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in Green Plains by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,165,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,027,000 after purchasing an additional 504,433 shares during the last quarter.

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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