Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Stock

Key Points

• Oppenheimer raised its price target on Green Plains from $16 to $18 and kept an outperform rating, implying roughly a 10.6% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst coverage is mixed — three Buys, four Holds and two Sells — leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Hold with an average price target of $13.57, well below Oppenheimer's target.
• Green Plains beat EPS estimates for the quarter ($0.17 vs. $0.07) but saw revenue fall 26.6% year-over-year and reported negative net margin and ROE; the stock trades near $16.28 with a market cap of about $1.14 billion.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Oppenheimer's target price suggests a potential upside of 10.58% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Green Plains from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Stephens upgraded 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.57.

Green Plains Stock Up 0.4%

GPRE stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 150,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,559,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Green Plains has a twelve month low of $3.33 and a twelve month high of $17.94. The company's fifty day moving average price is $15.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.61, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.10. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a negative return on equity of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $428.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.86) EPS. The company's revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Green Plains will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,696,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $46,025,000 after buying an additional 645,170 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,629,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $25,772,000 after purchasing an additional 85,982 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,187,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $21,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,237 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 112.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,823,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $17,873,000 after purchasing an additional 966,069 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Green Plains by 73.1% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,686,251 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $16,525,000 after purchasing an additional 712,337 shares during the period.

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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