Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Post (NYSE:POST) Stock Price

Post (NYSE:POST) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $117.00 to $115.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Post from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Post from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Post from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Post from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Post from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Post has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.80.

Post Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of POST opened at $105.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.09. Post has a 1-year low of $101.05 and a 1-year high of $125.84. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00 and a beta of 0.51.

Post (NYSE:POST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Post had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.80%. Post’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Post will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Post declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, August 29th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William P. Stiritz bought 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $109.53 per share, for a total transaction of $3,943,080.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,334,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,776,076.51. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Post

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Post by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Post by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 302,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,169,000 after acquiring an additional 32,995 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Post during the 1st quarter worth approximately $623,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Post by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Post during the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. 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.