Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $131.00.

POST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Post from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Zacks Research lowered Post from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Post from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Post in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Post Stock Up 1.5%

POST stock opened at $106.51 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.43. Post has a 12 month low of $100.44 and a 12 month high of $125.84. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 0.49.

Post (NYSE:POST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.36. Post had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 4.62%.The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Post will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Post announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, August 29th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Post

In other Post news, Director William P. Stiritz acquired 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $109.53 per share, for a total transaction of $3,943,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,334,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,776,076.51. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Post

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Post by 12.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 302,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,169,000 after acquiring an additional 32,995 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Post during the 1st quarter worth $623,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Post by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Post by 276.8% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 8,183 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Post by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc operates as a consumer packaged goods holding company in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Foodservice, and Refrigerated Retail. The Post Consumer Brands segment manufactures, markets, and sells branded and private label ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals under Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, and Malt-O-Meal brand names; hot cereal; peanut butter under the Peter Pan brand; and branded and private label dog and cat food products under Rachael Ray Nutrish, Nature's Recipe, 9Lives, Kibbles 'n Bits and Gravy Train brand names.