Comerica Bank Reduces Stake in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)

Comerica Bank cut its stake in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST - Free Report) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,298 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,271 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned about 0.08% of Post worth $5,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Post in the fourth quarter worth $108,991,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Post by 403.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 986,975 shares of the company's stock worth $112,969,000 after buying an additional 790,782 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Post during the 4th quarter worth $56,864,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Post during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,751,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Post by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 447,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,169,000 after buying an additional 100,263 shares during the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Post Stock Performance

POST traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $110.78. 1,086,611 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 543,882. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $113.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.70 and a 1 year high of $125.84.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Post had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on POST shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Post from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Post from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Post has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.00.

Insider Activity at Post

In other news, Director David W. Kemper sold 8,939 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.75, for a total transaction of $989,994.25. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,291,711.50. This trade represents a 23.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Diedre J. Gray sold 15,157 shares of Post stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.80, for a total value of $1,755,180.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,237,835. This represents a 43.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,096 shares of company stock worth $4,129,355. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.