KBC Group NV Acquires New Position in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• KBC Group NV acquired a new stake of 81,506 shares in StoneCo in Q4, valued at about $1.205 million according to its recent Form 13F filing.
• StoneCo declared a special dividend of $2.53 per share payable on May 4, with record and ex-dividend dates on April 24.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.50 (beat $0.48) but revenue missed estimates ($675.4M vs. $704.3M); the stock trades near $15.40 with a market cap of ~$4.4B and a consensus "Moderate Buy" average target of $19.29.

KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 81,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,205,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STNE. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in StoneCo in the third quarter valued at about $58,017,000. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 218.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,234,251 shares of the company's stock worth $80,070,000 after buying an additional 2,904,432 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 237.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 1,593,080 shares of the company's stock worth $30,125,000 after buying an additional 1,120,715 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 2nd quarter worth about $13,329,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 91.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,431,208 shares of the company's stock worth $27,064,000 after buying an additional 684,332 shares during the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StoneCo Stock Up 2.0%

StoneCo stock opened at $15.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.37. StoneCo Ltd. has a one year low of $11.95 and a one year high of $19.95.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $675.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.26 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 21.55%. As a group, equities analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

StoneCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $2.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 24th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on STNE. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of StoneCo from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.29.

StoneCo Profile

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.

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