UBS Group Cuts StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Price Target to $19.00

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at UBS Group from $19.50 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 30.58% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on STNE. Zacks Research raised shares of StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings raised StoneCo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Santander lowered StoneCo from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.44.

StoneCo Stock Up 3.3%

STNE traded up $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.55. 5,156,316 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,719,689. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.43. StoneCo has a fifty-two week low of $8.95 and a fifty-two week high of $19.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $675.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $704.26 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 15.38%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that StoneCo will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STNE. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in StoneCo by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 16,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 4.9% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 0.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 220,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,177,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 13.0% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.