Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Post (NYSE:POST) Price Target to $86.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered Post Holdings’ price target from $98 to $86 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying about 11.6% upside from the stock’s $77.07 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally positive: Post has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target of $109, despite additional target cuts from JPMorgan.
• Post beat quarterly EPS expectations at $1.78 versus $1.70, but revenue of $1.95 billion missed forecasts and declined 1.8% year over year, weighing on the outlook.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $86.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.59% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on POST. Weiss Ratings upgraded Post from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Post from $116.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Post in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $117.00 target price on shares of Post in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price target on shares of Post in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Post presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.00.

Post Price Performance

Post stock traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $77.07. The company had a trading volume of 492,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 853,339. Post has a fifty-two week low of $76.36 and a fifty-two week high of $117.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47. The company has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.62.

Post (NYSE:POST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.08. Post had a net margin of 3.48% and a return on equity of 13.22%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Post will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Post news, Director Gregory L. Curl sold 6,186 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.05, for a total transaction of $649,839.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,586,990.35. This represents a 29.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 14.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Post by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 267 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Post in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Post by 119.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 248 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Post during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Highlander Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Post during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company's stock.

Post News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan’s revised $99 target still implies substantial upside from recent trading levels, signaling that the firm continues to view Post Holdings as attractively valued. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted EPS of $1.78, above the $1.70 consensus estimate, but revenue of $1.95 billion fell short of the $2.02 billion forecast.
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan reduced its price target from $116 to $99, reflecting more cautious expectations even though its bullish rating was retained. Post Holdings also reported a 1.8% year-over-year revenue decline and lower EPS than the prior-year quarter, which may be weighing on investor sentiment. Post Holdings Price Target Report

Post Company Profile

Post Holdings, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that operates as a holding company for a diverse portfolio of food and beverage brands. The company's principal activities include the production, marketing and distribution of ready-to-eat cereal, refrigerated and frozen foods, and nutritional beverages. Through its operating segments—Post Consumer Brands, Foodservice, Refrigerated Side Dishes & Bakery, and Active Nutrition—Post Holdings delivers a broad array of products to retail grocers, convenience stores, foodservice operators and e-commerce channels.

The Post Consumer Brands segment features a variety of hot and cold cereals under names such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Shredded Wheat and Pebbles.

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source