Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in Post Holdings, Inc. $POST

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,075 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Post were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Post by 232.1% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 279 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 167.2% in the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Post in the second quarter valued at about $52,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 200.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 131.1% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William P. Stiritz purchased 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $109.53 per share, with a total value of $3,943,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,334,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,776,076.51. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Post Stock Performance

NYSE:POST opened at $106.05 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.33. 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 market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.49. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.05 and a 1-year high of $125.84.

Post (NYSE:POST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.36. Post had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Post declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, August 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on POST. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Post from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Post from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Post from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Post in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.80.

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.