Short Interest in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Grows By 19.9%

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 33,980,000 shares, a growth of 19.9% from the February 13th total of 28,340,000 shares. Currently, 12.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days.

StoneCo Stock Down 3.3 %

STNE stock opened at $9.85 on Wednesday. StoneCo has a one year low of $7.72 and a one year high of $17.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.33. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $9.16 and a 200-day moving average of $9.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on STNE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down previously from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.38.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 21,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 176,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 20,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 15,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.