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

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.2143.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on STNE shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on StoneCo from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th.

StoneCo Trading Down 9.7%

Shares of STNE stock opened at $15.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.85. StoneCo has a 1 year low of $7.72 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The firm had revenue of $669.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.81 million. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 7.28% and a positive return on equity of 20.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in StoneCo by 334.4% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in StoneCo in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in StoneCo during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

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.