StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Sets New 12-Month Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• StoneCo shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $10.83 (last $10.85) on Thursday with about 7.998 million shares changing hands versus a prior close of $11.66.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $20.00 average target after several firms issued downgrades or trimmed price targets.
• The company announced a $2.53 special dividend payable May 4 to shareholders of record April 24, and recently reported EPS of $0.50 (beat) while revenue of $675.4M missed estimates.

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $10.83 and last traded at $10.85, with a volume of 7998467 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on STNE. Zacks Research raised StoneCo from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Santander cut StoneCo from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded StoneCo from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on StoneCo from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, StoneCo currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.00.

StoneCo Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $675.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.26 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 15.38%. On average, equities analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

StoneCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be paid a $2.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 24th.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STNE. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 stake in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 74.1% during the 4th 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. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

StoneCo Company Profile

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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