Post (NYSE:POST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.22 EPS

Post (NYSE:POST) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.22, Briefing.com reports. Post had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Post Trading Down 2.1 %

POST stock traded down $2.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.66. 911,395 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 493,687. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $104.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.15. Post has a 1 year low of $78.85 and a 1 year high of $108.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on POST. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Post from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Post from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Post from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Post news, CEO Nicolas Catoggio sold 300 shares of Post stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.11, for a total transaction of $31,233.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 74,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,807,417.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Post news, CEO Nicolas Catoggio sold 300 shares of Post stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.11, for a total transaction of $31,233.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 74,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,807,417.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Diedre J. Gray sold 7,297 shares of Post stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $762,609.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 51,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,337,639.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 10.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.