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

Shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $125.3333.

Several analysts have issued reports on POST shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Post from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Post from $125.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Post from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Post from $115.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Post from $131.00 to $129.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th.

Post Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE POST opened at $97.78 on Friday. Post has a 12 month low of $96.34 and a 12 month high of $125.84. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $105.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

Post (NYSE:POST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.20. Post had a net margin of 4.11% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Post’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Post will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Post declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, August 29th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Post news, Director David W. Kemper bought 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.93 per share, with a total value of $176,274.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 31,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,086,949.46. The trade was a 6.06% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Post

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Post in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $136,310,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Post by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,313,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,249,000 after buying an additional 340,599 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Post in the first quarter valued at $34,528,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Post by 5.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,418,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,448,000 after acquiring an additional 277,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Post by 26.4% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 915,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,526,000 after acquiring an additional 191,081 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Post Company Profile

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.