Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Stock

Key Points

• Bank of America raised its price target for StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 39.55% from its current stock price.
• Other brokerages have also increased their ratings and prices for StoneCo, with JPMorgan raising their target to $18.50 and UBS to $20.00, contributing to a generally positive outlook.
• StoneCo's recent quarterly earnings beat expectations with an EPS of $0.39, despite reporting revenue of $643.82 million against analyst estimates significantly higher at $3.78 billion.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Bank of America from $15.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Bank of America's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 36.69% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Santander raised shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.56.

StoneCo Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:STNE traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $18.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,047,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,259,518. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. StoneCo has a 12 month low of $7.72 and a 12 month high of $18.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.91.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Equities analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in StoneCo by 143.0% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the period. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. grew its position in StoneCo by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 11,982,873 shares of the company's stock worth $125,581,000 after purchasing an additional 359,037 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the 1st quarter worth about $597,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the 1st quarter worth about $13,640,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 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.