Green Plains Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 3,786 call options on the company. Thisisanincreaseof51% compared to the typical volume of 2,512 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPRE shares. Oppenheimer upgraded Green Plains from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 target price (up previously from $4.50) on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Green Plains from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Green Plains by 1.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Green Plains by 15.0% during the second quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 11,666 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Green Plains by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,491 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Green Plains by 19.0% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Green Plains by 46.5% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 5,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the period.

Green Plains Stock Performance

NASDAQ GPRE traded up $1.26 on Thursday, reaching $11.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,263,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,857,033. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.47. Green Plains has a 12-month low of $3.14 and a 12-month high of $14.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.77. The stock has a market cap of $735.11 million, a P/E ratio of -4.68 and a beta of 1.18.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.13). Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 13.65% and a negative net margin of 6.34%.The company had revenue of $552.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.38) EPS. Green Plains’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.