StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $9.85, but opened at $10.86. StoneCo shares last traded at $11.32, with a volume of 4,927,529 shares.

The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $582.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 16.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STNE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on StoneCo from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STNE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in StoneCo by 254.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Trading Down 1.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

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.