ST. LOUIS — The board of directors of Post Holdings, Inc. on Sept. 4 approved a $400 million share repurchase plan. The St. Louis-based company cancelled its existing $350 million share repurchase plan that had been in effect since May 7, 2018.

Post said it already had bought back approximately $311 million of shares of common stock under the previous $350 million plan as of Sept. 4. The new authorization will extend for a two-year period.

“Repurchases may be made from time to time in the open market, private purchases, through forward, derivative, accelerated repurchase or automatic purchase transactions, or otherwise,” the company noted in a Sept. 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “The shares would be purchased with cash on hand and cash from operations. Any shares repurchased would be held as treasury stock. The authorization does not, however, obligate the company to acquire any particular amount of shares, and repurchases may be suspended or terminated at any time at the company’s discretion.”

Post Holdings has more than 73 million shares outstanding and a market cap of $7.66 billion as of Sept. 5. The company's stock was trading as high as $105.85 per share early Sept. 5, up 3.7% from the close of $102.01 on Sept. 3. Post Holdings’ share price reached its 52-week high of $113.73 on May 1 this year and its 52-week low of $83.88 on Dec. 24, 2018.