Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Post (NYSE:POST) Price Target to $86.00

Post (NYSE:POST) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.59% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on POST. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Post in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Post from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $125.00 price objective on Post in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Post in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.00.

Post Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE POST traded down $1.62 on Monday, hitting $77.07. 492,346 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 853,339. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47. The company has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.64 and a 200-day moving average of $97.62. Post has a 12 month low of $76.36 and a 12 month high of $117.28.

Post (NYSE:POST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.08. Post had a net margin of 3.48% and a return on equity of 13.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Post will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Post

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Post

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Post by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,071,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,678,000 after acquiring an additional 114,677 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Post in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,660,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Post by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 880,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,282,000 after buying an additional 8,906 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in shares of Post in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,599,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Post by 41.3% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 462,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,736,000 after buying an additional 135,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Key Post News

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan’s revised $99 target still implies substantial upside from recent trading levels, signaling that the firm continues to view Post Holdings as attractively valued. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted EPS of $1.78, above the $1.70 consensus estimate, but revenue of $1.95 billion fell short of the $2.02 billion forecast.
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan reduced its price target from $116 to $99, reflecting more cautious expectations even though its bullish rating was retained. Post Holdings also reported a 1.8% year-over-year revenue decline and lower EPS than the prior-year quarter, which may be weighing on investor sentiment. Post Holdings Price Target Report

Post Company Profile

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.