StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $129.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.24 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 23.82% and a return on equity of 21.05%.

StoneCo Trading Up 2.3%

STNE stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $10.23. 7,752,753 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,164,052. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.93. StoneCo has a 1 year low of $9.45 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on STNE. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $12.60 price target for the company. Bank of America lowered StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $101,610.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $237,090. This represents a 30.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,714,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440,760 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its stake in StoneCo by 1,054.8% during the 4th quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 5,236,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,450,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,158 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,017,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,239,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,130,000 after purchasing an additional 75,434 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 1,004.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,934,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759,782 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

About StoneCo

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.