Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) Stock Has Average Target Price of $103.43

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Post Holdings has an average “Hold” rating from nine analysts, with a $103.43 average 12-month price target versus the stock’s $77.48 price.
• Quarterly results were mixed: EPS of $1.78 beat estimates of $1.70, but revenue of $1.95 billion missed expectations and declined 1.8% year over year.
• Shares remain under pressure: Post trades below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while Chairman William P. Stiritz sold nearly $23.4 million of stock; institutional investors own 94.85% of shares.

Shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.43.

POST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore set a $121.00 target price on shares of Post in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Post from $116.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Post from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $117.00 price target on Post in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Post from $125.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman William P. Stiritz sold 277,935 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.23, for a total value of $23,410,465.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 14.05% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Post

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of POST. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Post by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,056 shares of the company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Post by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,987 shares of the company's stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Post by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,414 shares of the company's stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Post by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 3,430 shares of the company's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Post by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,271 shares of the company's stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Post Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Post stock opened at $77.48 on Tuesday. Post has a 1 year low of $71.45 and a 1 year high of $117.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.42 and a 200 day moving average of $88.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Post will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Post News

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post’s latest reported quarterly EPS of $1.78 exceeded the consensus estimate of $1.70, offering some support for the stock’s valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: The provided news flow is dominated by unrelated companies and macro or political stories, so it does not explain a new fundamental catalyst for POST.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue of $1.95 billion fell short of the $2.02 billion analyst estimate and declined 1.8% year over year. EPS also decreased from $2.03 in the comparable period, suggesting ongoing pressure on sales and profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: The shares remain below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, indicating continued technical weakness. Post also carries relatively high leverage, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc NYSE: POST is a consumer packaged goods company that develops, manufactures and distributes branded and private-label food products. Its portfolio includes breakfast cereals, eggs, refrigerated side dishes, active-nutrition products and foodservice items sold through grocery retailers, club stores, restaurants, institutions and other channels.

Post Consumer Brands markets cereals and other products under brands including Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Grape-Nuts, Great Grains and Malt-O-Meal.

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