StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,270,000 shares, an increase of 21.2% from the May 15th total of 10,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STNE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of StoneCo from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on StoneCo from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 152.1% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:STNE traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $12.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,991,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,428,057. StoneCo has a 12-month low of $9.34 and a 12-month high of $19.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. StoneCo had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $623.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $633.35 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that StoneCo will post 1.43 EPS 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.