ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC Invests $2.46 Million in XP Inc. $XP

Key Points

• ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired 129,100 shares of XP Inc. during the first quarter, valued at approximately $2.46 million and representing 1.9% of the fund’s portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 59.15% of XP.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautiously positive, with three Buy ratings and two Holds producing a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.33. UBS, however, lowered its target from $28 to $25.
• XP shares opened at $16.69, near the lower end of their 12-month range of $14.80 to $23.13. The company also raised its annual dividend to $0.20 per share, although the article’s reported 268% yield appears inconsistent with the share price and dividend amount.

ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in XP Inc. (NASDAQ:XP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 129,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,458,000. XP accounts for 1.9% of ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in XP by 119.2% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 19,900,087 shares of the company's stock worth $325,764,000 after purchasing an additional 10,820,050 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd bought a new position in shares of XP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $161,639,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of XP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,196,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of XP by 1,433.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,336,183 shares of the company's stock worth $67,391,000 after buying an additional 3,118,626 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in shares of XP in the 4th quarter valued at $39,145,000. 59.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on XP. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of XP from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of XP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of XP from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.33.

XP Price Performance

Shares of XP opened at $16.69 on Monday. XP Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.80 and a 12-month high of $23.13. The business's fifty day moving average is $16.30 and its 200 day moving average is $18.30. The company has a quick ratio of 6.66, a current ratio of 6.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.10.

XP declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 19th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

XP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. This is a boost from XP's previous annual dividend of $0.18. This represents a dividend yield of 268.0%. XP's payout ratio is presently 22.10%.

About XP

XP Inc provides financial products and services in Brazil. It offers securities brokerage, private pension plans, commercial, and investment banking products, such as loan operations and transactions in the foreign exchange markets and deposits; product structuring and capital markets services for corporate clients and issuers of fixed income products; advisory services for mass-affluent and institutional clients; and wealth management services for high-net-worth customers and institutional clients.

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