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

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.0714.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Santander cut shares of StoneCo from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of StoneCo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in StoneCo by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 16,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in StoneCo by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in StoneCo by 4.9% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 0.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 220,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,177,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STNE opened at $14.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.22 and its 200-day moving average is $16.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.37. StoneCo has a 52 week low of $10.86 and a 52 week high of $19.95.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $606.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.26 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 21.55%. Sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.