Post (NYSE:POST) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Post (NYSE:POST) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on POST. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Post from $106.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $125.00 price objective on Post in a report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $117.00 price target on shares of Post in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Post from $116.00 to $99.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Post from $98.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.00.

Post Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:POST opened at $72.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average of $90.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47. Post has a 52 week low of $71.45 and a 52 week high of $117.28.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Post had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 3.48%.The company’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Post will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William P. Stiritz sold 277,935 shares of Post stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.23, for a total transaction of $23,410,465.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 14.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Post

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Junto Capital Management LP raised its position in Post by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 589,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,025,000 after buying an additional 181,849 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Post in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $355,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Post during the 2nd quarter worth $1,697,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 22.8% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in Post by 3.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 35,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,154,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Post News

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: No material news about Post Holdings, such as an earnings release, guidance update, acquisition announcement, or analyst action, appears in the supplied articles. Post Holdings stock quote
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment remains pressured by Post Holdings’ weaker recent operating trends: its latest quarterly revenue declined 1.8% year over year and missed consensus expectations, even though adjusted earnings exceeded estimates.
• Negative Sentiment: The shares remain below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages and are close to the company’s one-year low, signaling continued technical weakness and limited near-term momentum.

About Post

Post Holdings, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that develops, manufactures and distributes branded and private-label food products. Its portfolio includes ready-to-eat cereals, granola, protein shakes and bars, pet food, eggs and egg products, refrigerated breakfast foods, side dishes, sausage, and other convenience foods.

The company operates through businesses including Post Consumer Brands, which markets cereal and pet food products; Weetabix, a United Kingdom-based cereal business with brands sold in the U.K.