StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.38.

STNE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of StoneCo from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STNE traded up $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.23. The company had a trading volume of 7,005,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,703,054. StoneCo has a twelve month low of $7.72 and a twelve month high of $17.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.07. StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 16.02%. The company had revenue of $582.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.59 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 254.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,056 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 627.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.