StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.50.

STNE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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 target on shares of StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of STNE stock opened at $10.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.65 and its 200 day moving average is $9.94. StoneCo has a 1-year low of $7.72 and a 1-year high of $17.93.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $582.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. Research analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 254.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in StoneCo by 627.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 166.7% in 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. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StoneCo Company Profile

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.