StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Coverage Initiated at BTIG Research

Equities researchers at BTIG Research started coverage on shares of StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research’s target price suggests a potential upside of 23.39% from the company’s previous close.

STNE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Santander cut shares of StoneCo from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research lowered StoneCo from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, StoneCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

StoneCo Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of STNE opened at $17.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.81. StoneCo has a 1 year low of $8.64 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.32.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,488,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,008,000 after acquiring an additional 107,473 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in StoneCo by 779.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 42,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 37,400 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 663.6% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 428,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,338,000 after purchasing an additional 372,426 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at $45,247,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at $235,000. Institutional investors 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.