Post (NYSE:POST) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Post (NYSE:POST) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on POST. Zacks Research cut shares of Post from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Post in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Post from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Post Stock Performance

Shares of POST opened at $99.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $105.84 and its 200-day moving average is $107.86. 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 has a 12 month low of $98.90 and a 12 month high of $125.84.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.20. Post had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Post’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Post will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Trading of Post

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of POST. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in shares of Post by 3.8% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 13,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Post by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 425,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,563,000 after buying an additional 80,139 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Post by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 50,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,819,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Post during the 1st quarter worth about $4,646,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Post by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 12,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.85% 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.