Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $6.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $14.00.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on GPRE. UBS Group lowered Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $20.50 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stephens raised Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Green Plains in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Green Plains from $13.00 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.89.

Green Plains Stock Up 1.4 %

GPRE opened at $5.08 on Tuesday. Green Plains has a 1-year low of $4.78 and a 1-year high of $24.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $328.82 million, a PE ratio of -3.74 and a beta of 1.55.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.64). Green Plains had a negative net margin of 3.36% and a negative return on equity of 11.88%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains during the 4th quarter worth $194,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Green Plains by 2,171.7% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 45,548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 43,543 shares during the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC raised its position in Green Plains by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 19,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,017 shares during the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at about $312,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Green Plains by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 329,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 135,719 shares during the last quarter.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil.