Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Buys New Holdings in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• Banco BTG Pactual S.A. has acquired 550,000 shares of StoneCo Ltd., valued at approximately $5.76 million, making it the 21st largest position in their portfolio.
• Shares of StoneCo experienced a 3.3% decline and currently have a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, with a recent price-to-earnings ratio of -21.33.
• Analysts have varied views on StoneCo, with target prices ranging from $15.00 to $18.50, indicating a generally positive outlook despite varying ratings from different brokerages.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 550,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,764,000. StoneCo comprises about 1.4% of Banco BTG Pactual S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. owned 0.19% of StoneCo at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 143.0% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter valued at $597,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 1,486.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at $132,000. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter valued at $13,640,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Price Performance

NASDAQ STNE traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,191,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,870,819. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of -21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $14.73 and a 200 day moving average of $12.73. StoneCo Ltd. has a one year low of $7.72 and a one year high of $16.68.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $643.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. StoneCo had a positive return on equity of 18.71% and a negative net margin of 8.37%. Analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on STNE shares. Santander raised StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on StoneCo from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays raised their target price on StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.07.

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.