London Co. of Virginia Sells 179,052 Shares of Post Holdings, Inc. $POST

London Co. of Virginia decreased its holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,586,633 shares of the company’s stock after selling 179,052 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Post were worth $157,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in POST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Post in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,660,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 104.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 415,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,155,000 after acquiring an additional 212,325 shares during the last quarter. H Squared Management LP bought a new position in shares of Post in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,115,000. Duquesne Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Post in the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,959,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 773.1% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 176,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,231,000 after acquiring an additional 156,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Post from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Post in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Post from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Post from $127.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Post from $133.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Post currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.40.

Post News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: No new earnings, guidance, acquisition, or restructuring news was reported for Post Holdings in the last 24-36 hours, so there is no obvious company-specific driver for the move.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent reported fundamentals remain mixed but stable: Post recently beat EPS expectations, while revenue came in slightly below estimates, which may be limiting upside momentum.
• Negative Sentiment: Shares were already trading below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages before this latest session, suggesting the stock has been under technical pressure and may continue to face selling on weak market sentiment.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher leverage remains a consideration for investors, with debt-to-equity at 2.38, which can weigh on valuation in a cautious market.

Insider Activity at Post

In other news, Director Gregory L. Curl sold 6,186 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 15,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,990.35. This trade represents a 29.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 14.05% of the company’s stock.

Post Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:POST opened at $92.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.33. Post Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $86.85 and a one year high of $117.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Post had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Post 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.