Analysts Set StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) PT at $17.21

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.2143.

STNE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StoneCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STNE. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the third quarter valued at about $58,017,000. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in StoneCo by 218.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,234,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904,432 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in StoneCo during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,366,000. Azora Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 4,863,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,008,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tekne Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,288,000. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ STNE opened at $14.79 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 company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.39, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.85. StoneCo has a 1 year low of $7.72 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.20.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. StoneCo had a positive return on equity of 20.18% and a negative net margin of 7.28%.The firm had revenue of $669.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.81 million. Research analysts anticipate 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.