StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $19.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. StoneCo traded as low as $10.16 and last traded at $10.24, with a volume of 745167 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.48.

A number of other research firms have also commented on STNE. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StoneCo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STNE. Central Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 90.2% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the second quarter valued at approximately $135,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StoneCo Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 2.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.27 and its 200-day moving average is $12.75.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $615.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $590.74 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.