Green Plains Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Key Points

• Green Plains, Inc. experienced a significant increase in options trading, with 9,848 call options bought, marking a 257% rise from the average volume.
• Insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares at an average price of $9.51, leading to a 33.83% reduction in her holdings of the company.
• Institutional investors have increased their stakes, with notable boosts from Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio (46.5%) and Brooklyn Investment Group (2,313.4%) in recent quarters.

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 9,848 call options on the company. This is an increase of 257% compared to the average volume of 2,761 call options.

Insider Activity at Green Plains

In related news, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total transaction of $294,372.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,558 shares in the company, valued at $575,906.58. This represents a 33.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 46.5% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 5,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 192.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 54.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Green Plains by 115.2% during the first 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. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Green Plains by 2,313.4% during the first 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.

Green Plains Price Performance

NASDAQ:GPRE traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.44. 7,109,341 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,960,334. The company has a market cap of $618.65 million, a PE ratio of -3.93 and a beta of 1.26. Green Plains has a 1 year low of $3.14 and a 1 year high of $14.04. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $9.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.01.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.41) EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $578.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Green Plains from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Green Plains from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating 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. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Green Plains to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.86.

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.

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