IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Sells 49,816 Shares of Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd reduced its stake in Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) by 78.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,481 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 49,816 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Green Plains were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPRE. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Green Plains by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Green Plains by 433.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,344 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Green Plains by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 65,154 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Green Plains by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,605 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 2,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Green Plains by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 3,320 shares during the last quarter.

Green Plains Price Performance

Shares of GPRE opened at $4.86 on Friday. Green Plains Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.74 and a 1-year high of $24.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.58 million, a PE ratio of -3.57 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $6.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.70.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last posted its 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 net margin of 3.36% and a negative return on equity of 11.88%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Green Plains Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GPRE. UBS Group lowered Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $20.50 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stephens upgraded shares of Green Plains to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.89.

Green Plains 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.