Post Holdings, Inc. $POST Stock Holdings Lifted by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. by 15.3% during the second quarter, now owning approximately 151,840 shares valued at $16.55 million.
• Post Holdings reported an EPS of $2.03 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $1.98 billion—up 1.9% year-over-year.
• Analyst ratings reflect mixed sentiments, with Zacks changing the rating from "strong-buy" to "hold," while JPMorgan raised its target price to $131 with an "overweight" rating.

Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST - Free Report) by 15.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 151,840 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 20,186 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel owned approximately 0.27% of Post worth $16,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of POST. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Post in the 1st quarter worth about $34,528,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Post by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 915,487 shares of the company's stock worth $106,526,000 after buying an additional 191,081 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Post by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 511,398 shares of the company's stock worth $59,506,000 after buying an additional 109,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Post by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,364,510 shares of the company's stock worth $391,494,000 after buying an additional 105,325 shares during the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on POST. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Post from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Post from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Post from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Post from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Post in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Post has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.80.

Post Stock Down 0.7%

Post stock opened at $108.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company's 50-day moving average price is $107.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.19. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.05 and a 52 week high of $125.84.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.95 billion. Post had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.80%. Post's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Post declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, August 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William P. Stiritz bought 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $109.53 per share, with a total value of $3,943,080.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,334,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,776,076.51. This represents a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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