StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on STNE shares. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of StoneCo in a report on Monday, February 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research downgraded StoneCo from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on StoneCo from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of StoneCo stock opened at $16.86 on Tuesday. StoneCo has a 52 week low of $8.64 and a 52 week high of $19.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of -31.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fourth Sail Capital LP lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 1,190,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,608,000 after acquiring an additional 504,157 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 123,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 24,792 shares in the last quarter. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter worth $5,140,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at $1,320,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Company Profile

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.