StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Given New $19.00 Price Target at UBS Group

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) had its target price lowered by UBS Group from $19.50 to $19.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on STNE. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of StoneCo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Santander lowered shares of StoneCo from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StoneCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.44.

StoneCo Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of STNE stock opened at $14.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78. StoneCo has a 52-week low of $8.95 and a 52-week high of $19.95.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 15.38%.The business had revenue of $675.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $704.26 million. On average, analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STNE. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 11,473.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of StoneCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 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.