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

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.56.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on STNE. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of StoneCo from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on StoneCo from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 6th.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of STNE opened at $11.80 on Thursday. StoneCo has a 52-week low of $9.34 and a 52-week high of $19.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 2.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $623.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $633.35 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 14.08%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that StoneCo will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at $58,777,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,139,000. Constellation Investimentos e Participacoes Ltda bought a new stake in StoneCo in the first quarter worth approximately $24,712,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth $18,458,000. Finally, BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 262.2% in the 1st quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 1,230,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 890,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

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.