Wall Street Zen Upgrades Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) to "Buy"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) from a "hold" to a "buy" rating in a report released Saturday.
• Analyst consensus remains a Hold (3 Buys, 4 Holds, 2 Sells) with a consensus target of $13.57, while shares opened at $15.92 and were down about 2.5%.
• Green Plains beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.17 vs. $0.07) but reported revenue down 26.6% year-over-year and continues to show negative net margin and return on equity.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on GPRE. Zacks Research raised Green Plains from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Green Plains from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Stephens raised Green Plains from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.57.

Green Plains Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ:GPRE opened at $15.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of -8.42, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.31. Green Plains has a 52-week low of $3.38 and a 52-week high of $17.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.33.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $428.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.56 million. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 8.70% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.Green Plains's quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.86) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Green Plains will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Green Plains by 170.5% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 130,133 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 82,016 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 155.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,114,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $18,338,000 after purchasing an additional 678,515 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 70,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 29,847 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Green Plains by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 880,217 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $8,626,000 after purchasing an additional 216,875 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000.

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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