KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Grows Stake in Post Holdings, Inc. $POST

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Post were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Post during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,528,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Post by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,418,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,448,000 after buying an additional 277,786 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Post by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 915,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,526,000 after buying an additional 191,081 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Post by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 511,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,506,000 after buying an additional 109,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Post by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,364,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,494,000 after buying an additional 105,325 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Post Stock Down 0.8%

Post stock opened at $107.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.49. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.05 and a 52 week high of $125.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Post (NYSE:POST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Post had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 4.62%.Post’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Post announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, August 29th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William P. Stiritz bought 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $109.53 per share, with a total value of $3,943,080.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 4,334,667 shares in the company, valued at $474,776,076.51. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Post in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Post from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Post from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Post has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.80.

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.