Kennedy Capital Management LLC Has $14.54 Million Holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. $POST

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 146,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,597 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Post were worth $14,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of POST. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Post by 74.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 57,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,694,000 after purchasing an additional 24,514 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Post by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Post by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Post by 181.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 7,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Post by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Post News Roundup

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.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory L. Curl sold 6,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 15,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,990.35. The trade was a 29.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 14.05% of the company’s stock.

Post Stock Up 0.3%

Post stock opened at $93.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Post Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.85 and a fifty-two week high of $117.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $98.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.47.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

POST has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Post from $133.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Post from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Post in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Post from $127.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Post from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Post currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.40.

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.