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

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.44.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on STEP shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,951,000 after purchasing an additional 561,176 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in StepStone Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,056,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,155,000 after purchasing an additional 94,819 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in StepStone Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,028,000 after buying an additional 52,713 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in StepStone Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 906,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,143,000 after buying an additional 45,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in StepStone Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 786,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,470,000 after buying an additional 7,773 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP stock opened at $46.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $77.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.79. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.97 and a beta of 1.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.53% and a positive return on equity of 43.38%. The company had revenue of $300.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. On average, analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This is a positive change from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.10%.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group, Inc is a global investment firm focused on private markets. The company provides investment solutions and advisory services designed to help institutional and private wealth clients build diversified portfolios of alternative investments.

Its platform spans private equity, venture capital, private debt, infrastructure and real estate. StepStone invests through primary commitments to funds, secondary-market transactions and direct or co-investments, and also offers customized portfolios and separately managed investment solutions.

StepStone serves pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, family offices and private wealth investors across North America, Europe, Asia and other international markets.