StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)’s share price 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.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on STNE. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted 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 purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC purchased a new position in StoneCo during the first quarter worth approximately $172,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the 3rd quarter valued at $125,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 8.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.29.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $615.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $590.74 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.69%. 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.