StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.85, but opened at $10.86. StoneCo shares last traded at $11.32, with a volume of 4,927,529 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The business had revenue of $582.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STNE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 target price (down from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StoneCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.38.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in StoneCo by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 21,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of StoneCo by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 176,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 20,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 2,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC increased its position in StoneCo by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 15,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 2,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Down 1.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.33.

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.