Fourth Sail Capital LP Purchases 504,157 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Fourth Sail Capital LP increased its position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 73.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,190,557 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 504,157 shares during the quarter. StoneCo comprises approximately 2.8% of Fourth Sail Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Fourth Sail Capital LP owned about 0.42% of StoneCo worth $17,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in StoneCo by 11,473.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc bought a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of STNE stock opened at $11.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.18. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52 week low of $9.45 and a 52 week high of $19.95.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. StoneCo had a net margin of 23.82% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The firm had revenue of $141.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $675.11 million. On average, analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StoneCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were issued a $2.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StoneCo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.58.

StoneCo Profile

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.