Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 100 Shares of Post Holdings, Inc. $POST

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,375 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Post were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Post by 232.1% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 279 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC raised its stake in Post by 167.2% in the 1st quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Post in the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Post by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Post by 131.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Post

In other news, Director William P. Stiritz bought 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $109.53 per share, for a total transaction of $3,943,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,334,667 shares in the company, valued at $474,776,076.51. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

POST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 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. upped their price objective on Post from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Post in a report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Post from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Post presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.80.

Post Price Performance

Shares of POST opened at $109.43 on Friday. Post Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.05 and a fifty-two week high of $125.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.60.

Post (NYSE:POST) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Post had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Post announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, August 29th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Post 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.