StoneCo hits two-year high after Goldman rates it 'buy'

PagSeguro Digital

22/01/2024 19:32

Jan 22 (Reuters) - ** Brazilian payments firm StoneCo
 STNE.O  is up almost 2% on Monday, after touching above
two-year intraday highs earlier in the day's session after
Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral."
** "Stone is our preferred name within Brazil payments, given
its superior revenue and earnings growth outlook," Goldman
analysts led by Tito Labarta wrote in a report dated Jan. 21
** They mentioned StoneCo's position in the MSMB segment and its
new banking and credit revenue potential, adding that there is a
"slightly more favorable" outlook for Brazilian payment sector
going forward
** Goldman analysts also raised the price target from StoneCo's
shares, which are listed in the U.S., to $21 from $12,
suggesting an approximately 23% upside from Friday's closing
price
** At about 2:00 p.m. ET, StoneCo's shares are up 1.7% at $17.29
each, after hitting $18.87 earlier on Monday, the highest
intraday level since Jan. 4, 2022; the three major U.S. equities
index are slightly up
** Goldman analysts also raised StoneCo's rival PagBank to
"neutral" from "sell," and its price target to $13.80 from
$7.40, a 9.5% suggested upside to last session's closing price
** PagBank's shares earlier on Monday touched their highest
intraday level since Nov. 16, 2022, at $13.40, before trimming
gains to 0.9% to $12.71

 (Reporting by Paula Arend Laier and Andre Romani)
 ((Andre.Romani@thomsonreuters.com; 11 991314109;11 56447500;))