Eric Bannasch, Cadian Capital Add to Position in Green Plains Renewable Energy

Cadian Capital, managed by Eric Bannasch, is betting big on Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE). The fund has revealed, in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an addition to their holding of Green Plains stock. Cadian has increased the number of shares owned to 3.8 million, representing 12.55% of the company’s common stock. Prior to that the fund held a little over 1.5 million shares.

Another fund that is particularly bullish on this stock is Aqr Capital Management, run by Cliff Asness. In their most recent 13F filing, the fund reported ownership of 600K shares valued at $9.6 million. During the third quarter of 2013,  Asness increased the investment in Green Plains Renewable Energy by 68%. In the mean time, Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group has been reducing their position in the company by 57%. In their latest 13F filing, Citadel revealed ownership of 137K shares, reportedly worth $2.2 million.

Green Plains Renewable Energy engages in the production and distribution of ethanol in the United States. Company shares have been in an uptrend in 2013, rising 90% to a current price of $15.28. Shares have a trailing Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 1.33. Earlier this year the company instated a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share. For the third quarter of 2013, Green Plains reported revenues of $757 million and earnings per diluted share (EPS) of $0.28. Market participants expect the company to increase their revenues to $795 million and earnings to $0.39 per share in the current quarter. The stock price is expected to further rise, with a mean target of $19.58.

Disclosure: none

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