Post Holdings, Inc. $POST Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 65.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 132,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 248,251 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Post were worth $13,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Post during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,660,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Post by 104.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 415,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,155,000 after purchasing an additional 212,325 shares in the last quarter. H Squared Management LP purchased a new position in Post during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,115,000. Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Post during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,959,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Post by 773.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 176,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,231,000 after purchasing an additional 156,184 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Post Trading Up 0.3%

Post stock opened at $93.40 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.85 and a 12 month high of $117.28. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 0.38.

Post (NYSE:POST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.21. Post had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Post’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Post

In other news, Director Gregory L. Curl sold 6,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.05, for a total transaction of $649,839.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,107 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,990.35. The trade was a 29.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 14.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Post

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: No fresh company-specific catalyst appeared in the latest headlines, so POST is likely moving on residual reaction to its recent earnings beat and general market sentiment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Post’s prior quarter showed better-than-expected earnings, which may be helping support the stock despite revenue coming in slightly below consensus.
• Neutral Sentiment: With the shares still below key moving averages, investors may be waiting for either stronger guidance or another operational catalyst before re-rating the stock higher.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Post from $127.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Post from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Post from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Post in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.40.

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.