Wall Street Zen Upgrades Post (NYSE:POST) to “Buy”

Post (NYSE:POST) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on POST. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Post from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Post from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Post from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Post from $133.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Post currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Post Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of Post stock opened at $107.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.49. Post has a 52-week low of $101.05 and a 52-week high of $125.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.86.

Post (NYSE:POST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 10.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Post will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William P. Stiritz purchased 186,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $109.11 per share, with a total value of $20,375,201.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,298,667 shares in the company, valued at $469,027,556.37. This represents a 4.54% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicolas Catoggio sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.97, for a total transaction of $190,697.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 43,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,767,546.47. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Post

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of POST. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Post by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 269,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,818,000 after buying an additional 15,020 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Post by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 19,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,442 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in shares of Post by 149.2% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 7,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Post during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,751,000. Finally, Argent Trust Co grew its stake in Post by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 4,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Post Company Profile

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.