StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.80.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on STNE shares. Barclays raised their target price on StoneCo from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group cut StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on StoneCo from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pearl River Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 149.6% in the third quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 145,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 86,924 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in StoneCo by 72.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,969,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,463 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 103.8% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,234,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,172,000 after acquiring an additional 628,698 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,147,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,244,000 after acquiring an additional 24,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the third quarter worth $16,603,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

StoneCo Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of StoneCo stock opened at $16.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. StoneCo has a 12-month low of $9.34 and a 12-month high of $19.46. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 2.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $16.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.16.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 18th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $655.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.47 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 11.23%. On average, analysts forecast that StoneCo will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.