StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on STNE shares. Barclays lowered their target price on StoneCo from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on StoneCo from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on StoneCo from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

StoneCo Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of STNE opened at $16.87 on Wednesday. StoneCo has a 52 week low of $9.34 and a 52 week high of $19.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 2.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.92.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 18th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. StoneCo had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 13.35%. The firm had revenue of $655.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.47 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pearl River Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of StoneCo by 149.6% during the third quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 145,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 86,924 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in StoneCo by 103.8% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,234,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,172,000 after buying an additional 628,698 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in StoneCo by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,147,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,244,000 after buying an additional 24,598 shares during the last quarter. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. purchased a new stake in StoneCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $16,603,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd. provides financial technology and software solutions to merchants and integrated partners to conduct electronic commerce across in-store, online, and mobile channels in Brazil. It distributes its solutions, principally through proprietary Stone Hubs, which offer hyper-local sales and services; and sells solutions to brick-and-mortar and digital merchants through sales team.