StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.48.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $7.00 price target (down from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on StoneCo from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 204.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,741,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,823,000 after purchasing an additional 5,195,787 shares in the last quarter. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,695,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 2,445.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,287,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,495 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,139,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,483,000. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StoneCo Trading Down 5.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.29. The business's 50 day moving average price is $11.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $615.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.74 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 16.02%. Equities analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

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.