StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Stock Price Up 3.2% – Here’s Why

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) was up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $11.15 and last traded at $11.07. Approximately 1,056,812 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,552,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on STNE. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of StoneCo from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

StoneCo Trading Down 7.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.90.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The company had revenue of $582.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

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

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.