Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Raised to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Rating) to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on GPRE. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They set a market perform rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, May 12th. They set a buy rating for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Green Plains from $44.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $41.17.

Green Plains Stock Performance

Shares of Green Plains stock opened at $31.17 on Tuesday. Green Plains has a fifty-two week low of $26.33 and a fifty-two week high of $41.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.99 and a beta of 1.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.34.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by ($0.83). The company had revenue of $832.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $823.35 million. Green Plains had a negative net margin of 3.66% and a negative return on equity of 14.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.16) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Green Plains will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Green Plains

In other Green Plains news, CEO Todd A. Becker sold 35,000 shares of Green Plains stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $1,050,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 751,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,529.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Todd A. Becker sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $1,050,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 751,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,529.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd A. Becker sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.18, for a total transaction of $623,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 731,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,822,731.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 125,641 shares of company stock valued at $3,837,810. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPRE. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 917 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Green Plains in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Green Plains in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Green Plains by 8,023.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Green Plains in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000.

Green Plains Company Profile

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Green Plains, Inc engages in the production of fuel-grade ethanol and corn oil, the provision of grain handling, and storage commodity marketing and distribution services. It operates through the following segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers’ grain, and corn oil at ethanol plants in Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Texas.