Post Holdings, Inc. $POST Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 99.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,011 shares of the company’s stock after selling 590,711 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Post were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Post by 74.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 57,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,694,000 after buying an additional 24,514 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Post by 12.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Post by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Post by 181.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after acquiring an additional 7,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Post by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Post from $106.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Post from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $125.00 target price on Post in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Post from $98.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

Post News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating on Post Holdings while lowering its price target to $99 from $116. The retained bullish rating and implied upside suggest the firm still sees value in the shares after their recent decline. JPMorgan Post Holdings price-target report
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo cut its target to $86 from $98 and assigned an Equal Weight rating. The new target remains above the recent trading level, but the rating indicates limited conviction that Post will significantly outperform the broader market. Wells Fargo Post Holdings price-target report
• Negative Sentiment: The target reductions point to more cautious expectations for Post’s earnings and valuation. In its latest quarter, the company exceeded EPS estimates but missed revenue expectations, with sales down year over year. Elevated leverage and a low net margin remain additional concerns for investors.

Post Price Performance

Shares of Post stock opened at $78.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.31. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $117.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.08. Post had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 3.48%.The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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.