StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.1250.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STEP. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.6%

STEP stock opened at $43.55 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.00. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.40 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, insider Michael I. Mccabe bought 120,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $97,645.60. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 72.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,068,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in StepStone Group by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 357,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after buying an additional 63,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm that provides specialized investment solutions across private equity, private credit and real assets. The firm offers customized portfolios, secondary interests, direct co-investments and tailored advisory services to institutional investors worldwide. StepStone’s integrated research and data analytics platform supports its investment teams in sourcing opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies.

Founded in 2007 as an independent private markets specialist, the company has grown its presence through both organic expansion and strategic partnerships.