StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• StoneCo has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, based on coverage from nine firms: five rate it hold and four rate it buy. The average 1-year price target is about $15.58.
• The stock was trading around $11.20, down 0.7%, leaving it well below the average analyst price target. It also has a low valuation profile, with a P/E ratio of 4.48 and a market cap of $2.79 billion.
• StoneCo recently reported earnings of $0.42 per share, matching estimates, but revenue came in at $141.16 million versus much higher analyst expectations. The article also noted a recent insider sale by a director and that institutional investors own about 73.19% of the stock.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.5833.

STNE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded StoneCo from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup downgraded StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday.

StoneCo Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:STNE opened at $11.20 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $10.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. StoneCo has a 1-year low of $9.45 and a 1-year high of $19.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.73.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $141.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $675.11 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 23.82% and a return on equity of 21.05%. Equities analysts anticipate that StoneCo will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at StoneCo

In other news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $101,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $237,090. The trade was a 30.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in StoneCo by 11,473.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in StoneCo in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 54.4% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company's stock.

About StoneCo

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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