Post (NYSE:POST) Sets New 52-Week High at $117.96

Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $117.96 and last traded at $117.36, with a volume of 7353 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $116.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on POST shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Post from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Post from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Post from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Post from $122.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Post from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.33.

Post Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $110.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.41.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Post had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 4.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Post news, Director Thomas C. Erb purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $112.94 per share, with a total value of $225,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 35,475 shares in the company, valued at $4,006,546.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Post

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 6.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,288,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,035,000 after purchasing an additional 332,811 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Post by 0.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,063,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,052,000 after acquiring an additional 27,448 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Post by 51.4% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,237,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,863,000 after acquiring an additional 419,945 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in Post by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,095,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,476,000 after acquiring an additional 8,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Post by 2.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 580,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,674,000 after acquiring an additional 15,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.