Quadrature Capital Ltd Raises Stake in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)

Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,083 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,067 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Post were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Post during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $436,000. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in Post during the fourth quarter worth $2,983,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Post by 355.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 19,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 15,137 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Post during the fourth quarter worth $6,047,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Post by 347.8% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 256,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,630,000 after purchasing an additional 199,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory L. Curl sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.06, for a total transaction of $424,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,246,456.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Gregory L. Curl sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.06, for a total transaction of $424,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,246,456.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert E. Grote sold 16,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.58, for a total value of $1,761,650.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,400 shares in the company, valued at $460,152. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,344,320. Insiders own 10.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Post from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Post from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Post from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.67.

Post Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE POST opened at $102.28 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.63. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.85 and a 12 month high of $108.17.

Post (NYSE:POST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.22. Post had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 10.93%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Post’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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.