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

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) was downgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $6.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $14.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.49% from the company’s previous close.

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

Green Plains Trading Down 4.5 %

NASDAQ GPRE opened at $5.48 on Tuesday. Green Plains has a one year low of $4.87 and a one year high of $24.04. The firm has a market cap of $354.71 million, a PE ratio of -4.03 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $7.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.48.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Green Plains by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 313,446 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 8,750 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 142,851 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 59,564 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Green Plains by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,150,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,581,000 after purchasing an additional 159,147 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $840,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Green Plains by 1,122.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 704,125 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,675,000 after purchasing an additional 646,507 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.