Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $124.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on POST shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Post from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Post from $133.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research raised Post from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Post from $127.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th.

Post Price Performance

Post stock opened at $97.11 on Friday. Post has a one year low of $94.13 and a one year high of $117.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.84. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.43.

Post (NYSE:POST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.21. Post had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 4.01%.The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Post’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Post will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory L. Curl sold 6,186 shares of Post stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.05, for a total transaction of $649,839.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,990.35. The trade was a 29.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 14.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Post by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Post by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC increased its position in Post by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Post by 119.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Financial Inc. increased its position in Post by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 10,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Post

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are still digesting Post’s most recent quarterly results, where the company beat EPS expectations and delivered 4.7% revenue growth year over year, showing that core business performance remains solid.
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent Seeking Alpha article argued that Post Holdings’ share buybacks could add value over time, but this is more of an investment thesis than a fresh operational catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Post Holdings has not announced any new major business updates in the provided articles, so the stock appears to be trading more on broader market sentiment and post-earnings digestion than on fresh company news.
• Negative Sentiment: The company’s latest revenue came in slightly below analyst expectations, which may still be pressuring the shares despite the EPS beat.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that operates as a holding company for a diverse portfolio of food and beverage brands. The company’s principal activities include the production, marketing and distribution of ready-to-eat cereal, refrigerated and frozen foods, and nutritional beverages. Through its operating segments—Post Consumer Brands, Foodservice, Refrigerated Side Dishes & Bakery, and Active Nutrition—Post Holdings delivers a broad array of products to retail grocers, convenience stores, foodservice operators and e-commerce channels.

The Post Consumer Brands segment features a variety of hot and cold cereals under names such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Shredded Wheat and Pebbles.