Fourth Sail Capital LP Invests $13.64 Million in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Key Points

• Fourth Sail Capital LP has acquired a new stake in StoneCo Ltd., purchasing 1,301,556 shares valued at approximately $13.64 million, making it 3.2% of their portfolio.
• Several large investors, including Harbor Capital Advisors and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in StoneCo during the first quarter of the year.
• Analyst ratings are mixed, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $15.07, while Barclays has upped its target from $13.00 to $15.00.

Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,301,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,640,000. StoneCo comprises approximately 3.2% of Fourth Sail Capital LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Fourth Sail Capital LP owned about 0.46% of StoneCo as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of StoneCo by 143.0% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of StoneCo by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,696,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,523,000 after acquiring an additional 116,050 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo during the first quarter valued at approximately $597,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in StoneCo by 1,486.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of StoneCo from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup raised shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Santander raised shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.07.

StoneCo Trading Up 7.0%

StoneCo stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.44. 11,701,282 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,708,360. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $14.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.88. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $7.72 and a 52-week high of $16.68.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 8.37% and a positive return on equity of 18.19%. The business had revenue of $643.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.