BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Stock
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyGreen Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Free Report) had its target price raised by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $14.00 to $15.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential downside of 7.66% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on GPRE. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Green Plains from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Green Plains from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Green Plains from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.29.
Check Out Our Latest Report on GPRE
Green Plains Trading Down 0.3%
Shares of Green Plains stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.25. The company had a trading volume of 411,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,579,564. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -8.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.33. 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 fifty-two week low of $3.14 and a fifty-two week high of $16.80.
Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.86) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Green Plains will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Trading of Green Plains
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GPRE. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Green Plains by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 70,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 29,847 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Green Plains in the 4th quarter worth about $100,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Green Plains in the 4th quarter worth about $116,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its stake in Green Plains by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 417,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,089,000 after buying an additional 36,002 shares during the last quarter.
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.