StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• StoneCo shares jumped sharply, opening at $10.88 versus a prior close of $9.55 and later trading near $11.89 on nearly 5.9 million shares.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $14.30, despite targets ranging from $12.60 to $13.00 among recently cited firms.
• StoneCo slightly beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.47 versus $0.46 estimated, while institutional investors own a substantial 73.19% of the company and hedge funds recently increased or initiated positions.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $9.55, but opened at $10.88. StoneCo shares last traded at $11.8850, with a volume of 5,878,873 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $12.60 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Bank of America lowered StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on StoneCo from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.30.

StoneCo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 4.81, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.26.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $129.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $708.24 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 22.92%. Research analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at StoneCo

In other StoneCo news, Director Silvio Morais sold 21,000 shares of StoneCo stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.91, for a total transaction of $208,110.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Andra AP fonden raised its position in StoneCo by 159.5% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 1,593,600 shares of the company's stock worth $17,275,000 after purchasing an additional 979,400 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in StoneCo during the second quarter valued at about $139,000. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in StoneCo during the second quarter valued at about $480,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of StoneCo during the second quarter valued at about $156,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of StoneCo during the second quarter valued at about $8,040,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company's stock.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd. is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides payment processing, banking and business-management solutions to entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses. Its services are designed to help merchants accept electronic payments, manage cash flow and operate their businesses through integrated digital tools.

The company's offerings include point-of-sale and mobile payment solutions, online payment processing, digital banking services, working-capital and credit products, and software for retail and other business operations.

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