StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares of StoneCo (STNE) gapped up pre-market, opening at $15.27 versus the prior close of $14.61 and last trading near $14.93 on roughly 2.8 million shares.
• Analysts are mixed but mildly positive with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.07 after recent target cuts and a mix of buy and hold notes.
• StoneCo reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, beating estimates by $0.02 while revenue of $675.4M missed forecasts; the stock trades at a P/E of ~9.8 and has a market cap near $4.27B.

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $14.61, but opened at $15.27. StoneCo shares last traded at $14.93, with a volume of 2,800,401 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STNE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Santander cut StoneCo from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded StoneCo from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.07.

StoneCo Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 15.38%.The firm had revenue of $675.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.26 million. On average, analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STNE. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 11,473.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new position in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 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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