CenterBook Partners LP Raises Stock Holdings in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

CenterBook Partners LP raised its position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 298.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 88,615 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,357 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $1,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STNE. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $902,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $70,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 28,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 7,635 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 256,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after acquiring an additional 19,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StoneCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ STNE opened at $10.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.73. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.23. StoneCo Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $9.45 and a fifty-two week high of $19.95.

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

StoneCo Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STNE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.58.

StoneCo Company 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.