Principal Securities Inc. Takes Position in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)

Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Post by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in Post during the third quarter worth about $416,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 4.0% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 300,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,806,000 after purchasing an additional 11,489 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Post in the third quarter valued at approximately $533,000. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in shares of Post during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $815,000. 94.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Post news, CEO Nicolas Catoggio sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.11, for a total transaction of $31,233.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 74,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,807,417.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.70% of the company’s stock.

Post Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE POST opened at $105.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.65. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.85 and a 12 month 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 50-day moving average of $104.52 and a 200-day moving average of $97.25.

Post (NYSE:POST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.22. Post had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 10.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Post’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Post from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Post from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Post from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Post from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Post currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.67.

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.