Post (NYSE:POST) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $105.86, but opened at $110.20. Post shares last traded at $112.13, with a volume of 247,248 shares traded.

The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.24. Post had a return on equity of 10.49% and a net margin of 4.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on POST. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Post from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Post from $120.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Post from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Post currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.83.

Insider Activity at Post

In other Post news, CEO Nicolas Catoggio sold 6,000 shares of Post stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.14, for a total value of $726,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,501 shares in the company, valued at $8,540,491.14. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeff A. Zadoks sold 28,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total transaction of $3,475,121.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 67,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,131,848.48. This represents a 29.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,969 shares of company stock worth $4,322,051. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Post

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Post by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Post by 2.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 26,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Post in the second quarter valued at about $510,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Post by 56.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Post by 53.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Post Trading Up 5.7 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.36.

Post Company Profile

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.