StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $14.61, but opened at $15.27. StoneCo shares last traded at $14.93, with a volume of 2,800,401 shares trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Investors of record on Friday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $2.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 24th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STNE. Zacks Research upgraded shares of StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of StoneCo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.29.

StoneCo Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.08 and its 200 day moving average is $15.94.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. StoneCo had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 21.55%. The business had revenue of $675.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $704.26 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STNE. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in StoneCo by 11,473.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,721 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in StoneCo by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

About StoneCo

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.