Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 102,699 Shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 41.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,801 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,699 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.24% of Post worth $15,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in POST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Post by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,288,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,035,000 after purchasing an additional 332,811 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Post in the 4th quarter valued at $19,598,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Post by 347.8% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 256,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,630,000 after acquiring an additional 199,592 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in Post in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,873,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Post in the 4th quarter valued at $6,047,000. Institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Post Stock Performance

Shares of POST stock opened at $114.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.05. Post Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.85 and a fifty-two week high of $118.96.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Post had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 4.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Post news, Director Thomas C. Erb bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $112.94 per share, for a total transaction of $225,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 35,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,006,546.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 10.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

POST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Post from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Post from $122.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Post from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Post from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

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.