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

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.63.

A number of brokerages recently commented on STNE. Citigroup upgraded StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of StoneCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

StoneCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STNE opened at $13.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.28 and its 200-day moving average is $10.29. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. StoneCo has a 52-week low of $7.72 and a 52-week high of $15.08.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $625.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 16.02%. Equities research analysts anticipate that StoneCo will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STNE. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the first quarter worth approximately $70,502,000. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. grew its position in StoneCo by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 13,951,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,191,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,709 shares during the last quarter. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. increased its holdings in StoneCo by 484.8% during the 1st quarter. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 4,472,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707,941 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in StoneCo in the 4th quarter valued at $22,642,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in StoneCo by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 13,956,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534,079 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.