Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Position in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 82.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,522 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Post were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Post by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,288,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,035,000 after purchasing an additional 332,811 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Post during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,598,000. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 199,592 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Post in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,873,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Post during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,047,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Post

In related news, Director Thomas C. Erb purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $112.94 per share, with a total value of $225,880.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,006,546.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Post Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Post stock opened at $114.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.63. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.85 and a 52-week high of $118.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Post (NYSE:POST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.33. Post had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 4.46%. The business 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 business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Post Holdings, Inc. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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