StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,360,000 shares, an increase of 33.3% from the November 30th total of 18,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

StoneCo Stock Down 0.8 %

StoneCo stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.19. The company had a trading volume of 3,081,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,291,565. StoneCo has a fifty-two week low of $7.89 and a fifty-two week high of $19.46. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 2.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.94 and its 200-day moving average is $11.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on STNE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $7.00 target price (down from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in StoneCo by 90.2% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new stake in StoneCo in the third quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in StoneCo in the second quarter worth approximately $135,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 2nd quarter worth $137,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 3,878 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.