Short Interest in Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) Rises By 25.3%

Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,630,000 shares, a growth of 25.3% from the January 31st total of 6,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens upgraded shares of Green Plains to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of Green Plains from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $20.50 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Green Plains from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 target price (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.50.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Green Plains

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Green Plains by 433.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Green Plains in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Dauntless Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Green Plains in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Green Plains by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Green Plains by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 7,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 5,450 shares during the period.

Green Plains Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GPRE traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.74. 2,005,341 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,192,189. The company has a market capitalization of $371.54 million, a P/E ratio of -4.22 and a beta of 1.55. Green Plains has a 52-week low of $4.87 and a 52-week high of $24.04. 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 50 day moving average price of $8.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.55.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.88% and a negative net margin of 3.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Green Plains will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Green Plains Company Profile

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.