Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Reduces Position in Post Holdings, Inc. $POST

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 58.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,193,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,675,300 shares during the period. Post accounts for 9.0% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Post were worth $117,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of POST. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Post during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,989,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in Post during the fourth quarter valued at $6,867,000. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Post by 145.5% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 44,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after purchasing an additional 26,400 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Post in the first quarter worth about $5,229,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Post by 104.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 242,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,980,000 after buying an additional 123,423 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on POST. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Post in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Post from $119.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Post from $119.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Post from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.60.

Post Price Performance

Shares of Post stock opened at $89.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.05 and a 200 day moving average of $98.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.89 and a 12 month high of $117.28.

Post (NYSE:POST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Post News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan Chase reportedly issued a pessimistic forecast for Post Holdings, which can weigh on investor sentiment by reinforcing concerns about upside in the shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Post (NYSE:POST) Stock Price
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent Zacks analysis said Post is rebuilding its pet food portfolio for growth, highlighting pricing changes and the Nutrish relaunch to support volumes and category performance. This points to a longer-term turnaround effort rather than an immediate catalyst. How Is Post Holdings Rebuilding Its Pet Food Portfolio for Growth?

Insider Activity

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

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.