StoneCo Ltd. $STNE is Azora Capital LP’s 8th Largest Position

Azora Capital LP raised its stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 88.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,863,331 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,279,821 shares during the period. StoneCo accounts for about 3.5% of Azora Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Azora Capital LP owned 1.70% of StoneCo worth $78,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 334.4% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 43.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in StoneCo by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Trading Down 1.7%

StoneCo stock opened at $14.62 on Wednesday. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $7.72 and a 52-week high of $19.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.07, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.10.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The company had revenue of $669.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.81 million. StoneCo had a positive return on equity of 20.18% and a negative net margin of 7.28%. Sell-side analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StoneCo in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.21.

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.