Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $109.00 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Eight brokerages give Post Holdings a consensus “Hold” rating, with four buys, three holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $109, well above the stock’s reported $74.20 price.
• Post exceeded quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $1.78 versus $1.70 expected, but revenue fell 1.8% year over year to $1.95 billion and missed forecasts. Shares are near their 52-week low and below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Balance-sheet and insider-selling risks remain: Post has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.99, while Chairman William P. Stiritz sold about $23.4 million worth of shares. Institutional investors own approximately 94.85% of the stock.

Shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $109.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on POST. Weiss Ratings lowered Post from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $117.00 target price on Post in a report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Post from $116.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $125.00 price target on Post in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore set a $121.00 price objective on Post in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Post Stock Performance

POST opened at $74.20 on Friday. Post has a 1-year low of $74.13 and a 1-year high of $117.28. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $83.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.62. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Post will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Post

In other news, Chairman William P. Stiritz sold 277,935 shares of the 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 14.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in POST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 114,677 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Post during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,660,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Post by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 880,993 shares of the company's stock worth $87,282,000 after acquiring an additional 8,906 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in Post in the second quarter worth $54,599,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP grew its stake in Post by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 589,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,025,000 after purchasing an additional 181,849 shares during the period. 94.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Post

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Recent trading weakness appears more likely tied to technical pressure and investor concerns carried over from the company’s latest earnings report. Post’s EPS exceeded estimates, but revenue missed consensus and declined year over year, suggesting softer operating momentum.
• Neutral Sentiment: Shares are trading close to their 52-week low and below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which may encourage continued caution and technical selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Post Holdings’ elevated debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47 and relatively thin quick ratio of 0.99 remain balance-sheet risks, particularly if consumer demand weakens or borrowing costs stay high.

Post Company Profile

Post Holdings, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that develops, manufactures and markets branded and private-label food products. Its portfolio includes ready-to-eat cereal, hot cereal, pet food, protein products, peanut butter, and other grocery items sold through retail and e-commerce channels.

The company operates through several businesses, including Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Foodservice and Refrigerated Retail. Its brands include Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Grape-Nuts, Raisin Bran, Malt-O-Meal, Weetabix, Alpen, Bob Evans and Simply Potatoes.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.