Post (NYSE:POST) Stock Price Target Lowered at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered Post Holdings’ price target from $86 to $79 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 7.65% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Post has an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $108, with four Buy, two Hold, and two Sell ratings.
• Post’s latest quarterly results were mixed, as EPS beat estimates ($1.78 versus $1.70) but revenue declined 1.8% year over year and fell short of expectations; the stock was trading near its 52-week low and below its 50- and 200-day moving averages.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $86.00 to $79.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective points to a potential upside of 7.65% from the stock's previous close.

POST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Post in a research note on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Post from $116.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Post from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Evercore set a $121.00 price target on Post in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $117.00 price objective on Post in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.00.

Post Price Performance

POST stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $73.39. The company had a trading volume of 65,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,017. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average of $90.46. Post has a fifty-two week low of $71.45 and a fifty-two week high of $117.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.02 billion. Post had a net margin of 3.48% and a return on equity of 13.22%. Post's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Post will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Post news, Chairman William P. Stiritz sold 277,935 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.23, for a total value of $23,410,465.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 14.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Post

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 114,677 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 880,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,282,000 after purchasing an additional 8,906 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor acquired a new stake in shares of Post in the second quarter worth $54,599,000. Junto Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Post by 44.6% during the second quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 589,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,025,000 after buying an additional 181,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Post by 278.8% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 549,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,542,000 after buying an additional 404,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Post

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: The listed articles primarily cover unrelated companies, macroeconomic developments, and international news; none directly discusses Post Holdings or its operating businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors may instead be focusing on Post’s latest reported results: adjusted earnings exceeded estimates, but revenue declined year over year and missed forecasts, leaving mixed signals for the packaged-food company.
• Negative Sentiment: Post Holdings remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while its elevated debt-to-equity ratio could limit flexibility if interest rates remain high. These are ongoing risks rather than developments reported in the current articles.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that develops, manufactures and distributes branded and private-label food products. Its portfolio includes ready-to-eat cereals, granola, protein shakes and bars, pet food, eggs and egg products, refrigerated breakfast foods, side dishes, sausage, and other convenience foods.

The company operates through businesses including Post Consumer Brands, which markets cereal and pet food products; Weetabix, a United Kingdom-based cereal business with brands sold in the U.K.

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