Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $10.02, but opened at $11.40. Green Plains shares last traded at $11.5390, with a volume of 643,100 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $15.00 price target on shares of Green Plains and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Green Plains from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.00.

Green Plains Stock Up 15.0%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $755.57 million, a PE ratio of -4.78 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Green Plains

In other news, insider Michelle Mapes sold 30,954 shares of Green Plains stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.51, for a total transaction of $294,372.54. Following the transaction, the insider owned 60,558 shares in the company, valued at $575,906.58. This trade represents a 33.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Green Plains by 46.5% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Green Plains by 192.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Green Plains by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 3,002 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Green Plains by 115.2% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Green Plains by 2,313.4% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 9,340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 8,953 shares in 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.