Post (NYSE:POST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Post (NYSE:POST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on POST. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Post from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Post from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Post from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Post from $133.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Post Stock Down 1.2%

Post stock opened at $106.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $108.41 and its 200-day moving average is $110.91. Post has a fifty-two week low of $101.05 and a fifty-two week high of $125.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Post (NYSE:POST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Post had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.80%. Post’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Post will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Post

In other Post news, CEO Nicolas Catoggio sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.97, for a total value of $190,697.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 43,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,767,546.47. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William P. Stiritz acquired 186,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $109.11 per share, with a total value of $20,375,201.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,298,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,027,556.37. This trade represents a 4.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Post

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of POST. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Post by 403.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 986,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,969,000 after purchasing an additional 790,782 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Post by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,045,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,646,000 after purchasing an additional 364,006 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Post in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,751,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Post in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,528,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Post by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,418,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,448,000 after purchasing an additional 277,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.