Evercore ISI Boosts Post (NYSE:POST) Price Target to $122.00

Post (NYSE:POST) had its price objective hoisted by Evercore ISI from $118.00 to $122.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on POST. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Post from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Post from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Post from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $113.67.

Post Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE POST opened at $105.76 on Monday. Post has a 1 year low of $78.85 and a 1 year high of $108.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.12 and a 200 day moving average of $95.73.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Post had a return on equity of 10.93% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Post will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Post news, CAO Diedre J. Gray sold 7,297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $762,609.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 51,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,639.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Nicolas Catoggio sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.62, for a total value of $158,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,492 shares in the company, valued at $7,762,225.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Diedre J. Gray sold 7,297 shares of Post stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $762,609.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 51,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,639.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,097 shares of company stock worth $952,272. 10.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Post

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Post by 12.8% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,396,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,249,000 after buying an additional 385,640 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Post by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,002,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,382,000 after purchasing an additional 249,155 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Post during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,598,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Post by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,634,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,112,000 after purchasing an additional 209,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Post by 347.8% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 256,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,630,000 after purchasing an additional 199,592 shares during the period. 94.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.