Brokerages Set StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Target Price at $16.56

Key Points

• StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from twelve research firms, with price targets ranging significantly, notably a recent increase from UBS to $20.00.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.39 for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.36, and had a revenue of $643.82 million for the quarter.
• As of now, 73.19% of StoneCo's stock is owned by institutional investors, indicating strong interest from larger financial entities in the company.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.5625.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on STNE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in StoneCo during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in StoneCo by 1,486.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in StoneCo by 327.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of StoneCo by 334.4% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of StoneCo by 143.0% during the first 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. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of STNE traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,755,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,526,288. The company has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.71, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.91. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.84. StoneCo has a 52-week low of $7.72 and a 52-week high of $19.62.

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

StoneCo Company Profile

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.