Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. $POST

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 245.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,778 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 69,442 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.22% of Post worth $8,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of POST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Post by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,071,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,678,000 after acquiring an additional 114,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Post in the fourth quarter worth about $113,660,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Post by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 880,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,282,000 after purchasing an additional 8,906 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new stake in shares of Post during the second quarter worth about $54,599,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Post by 41.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 462,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,736,000 after purchasing an additional 135,236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Post News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Post this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post’s premium cereal brands are gaining share, while assortment changes are helping the company narrow the performance gap with the broader cereal category. Post Holdings’ Premium Cereal Gains Share Amid Category Pressure
• Neutral Sentiment: In its latest reported quarter, Post exceeded earnings expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.78 versus the $1.70 consensus, but revenue of $1.95 billion fell short of estimates of $2.02 billion.
• Negative Sentiment: The cereal category remains challenging, and Post’s overall quarterly revenue declined 1.8% year over year. The revenue miss and weaker sales trend may be offsetting the earnings beat in investor sentiment.

Post Stock Performance

NYSE:POST opened at $81.07 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.37. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $117.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.83. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

POST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $117.00 price target on Post in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Post from $106.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Post from $116.00 to $99.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Post from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $125.00 price target on shares of Post in a report on Friday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Post has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.00.

Insider Transactions at Post

In other Post news, Chairman William P. Stiritz sold 277,935 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.23, for a total transaction of $23,410,465.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 14.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Post

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.