Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $17.00 According to Brokerages

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.00.

GPRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Green Plains from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Green Plains in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Green Plains Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GPRE opened at $14.10 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Green Plains has a twelve month low of $9.29 and a twelve month high of $19.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $988.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $446.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $542.38 million. Green Plains had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 6.78%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Green Plains will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Green Plains in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the second quarter valued at about $158,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Green Plains in the second quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Green Plains by 21.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc is a renewable fuels and agricultural technology company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The company operates biorefineries in the central United States that convert corn into renewable, low-carbon products, including ethanol, animal feed ingredients and corn oil.

Its product portfolio includes fuel-grade ethanol for blending into gasoline, distillers grains and other feed products for livestock and aquaculture, and corn oil used in feed and renewable fuel applications.