Post Holdings, Inc. $POST Stock Holdings Lessened by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. by 5%, selling 3,299 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 62,906 shares valued at approximately $7.29 million.
• A series of other institutional investors, including Brooklyn Investment Group and MassMutual Private Wealth, significantly increased their stakes in Post, with Brooklyn Investment Group raising its stake by 232.1%.
• Post Holdings reported a strong quarter, with earnings per share of $2.03, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a share buyback program aimed at repurchasing undervalued shares.

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,906 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,299 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Post worth $7,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in POST. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Post by 200.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 477 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Post by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 302,241 shares of the company's stock worth $35,169,000 after buying an additional 32,995 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Post by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company's stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Post by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,418,085 shares of the company's stock worth $630,448,000 after buying an additional 277,786 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Post by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.85% of the company's stock.

Post Stock Down 2.4%

POST stock traded down $2.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $102.49. 838,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,800. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Post Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.05 and a twelve month high of $125.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.77.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Post declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, August 29th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William P. Stiritz acquired 36,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $109.53 per share, with a total value of $3,943,080.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,334,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,776,076.51. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on POST shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Post from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Post from $133.00 to $127.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Post from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Post from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Post from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.20.

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.