Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) by 34.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,670 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,720 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.19% of Post worth $12,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Post in the 1st quarter valued at about $605,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Post by 133.9% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 23,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 13,503 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 332,811 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Post by 664.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 22,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Post during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,772,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Post Price Performance

NYSE POST opened at $106.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 0.64. Post Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.86 and a 12-month high of $118.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.71.

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.