StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.48.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of StoneCo from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StoneCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in StoneCo in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in StoneCo in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in StoneCo by 90.2% in the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in shares of StoneCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought 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.

StoneCo Trading Down 5.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.29.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.04). StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The business had revenue of $615.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.74 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

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.