StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $300.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 52.55% and a negative net margin of 30.53%.

Here are the key takeaways from StepStone Group’s conference call:

• Strong financial performance: Fee-related earnings rose 30% to $106 million, adjusted net income increased 22% to $60 million, and fee-earning AUM plus undeployed capital reached approximately $193 billion, up 19% organically year over year.
• Fundraising remained robust, with nearly $40 billion of gross AUM additions over the past year and $10 billion in the quarter. Private wealth subscriptions reached a record $2.8 billion, taking private wealth assets above $21 billion, while platform redemptions remained below 2%.
• Management expects the planned buy-in of the remaining Private Wealth profits interest to provide significant earnings-per-share accretion by capturing the full economics of a high-growth business, though the transaction will require a mix of equity, cash, and potentially additional debt financing.
• SPRING generated an exceptional 23% net return in the first half of the calendar year, driving strong inflows and anticipated incentive fees; however, management cautioned that such performance is not typical and that public-market exposure, including SpaceX, may create greater near-term volatility.
• The shift toward recently activated secondary funds is temporarily pressuring blended fee rates, while private wealth distribution fees are running at roughly $5 million per quarter and are expected to increase with platform assets.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP traded down $3.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $46.41. The company had a trading volume of 5,241,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,227,498. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.01 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.37.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.47%.

More StepStone Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting StepStone Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: StepStone increased its quarterly dividend by 17.9% to $0.33 per share, implying an annualized yield of approximately 2.8%. The dividend is payable September 15 to shareholders of record August 31. StepStone Group Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2027 Results
• Positive Sentiment: A separate earnings analysis highlighted sales growth that exceeded estimates for the reported period, providing a constructive sign for the firm’s operating momentum. StepStone Group sales report
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings call provided additional commentary on results and business conditions, but the available report does not specify new guidance or major strategic changes. StepStone Group Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: StepStone reported quarterly EPS of $0.48, below consensus estimates of roughly $0.50–$0.51, although earnings improved from $0.40 a year earlier. Revenue of $300.6 million also fell short of the approximately $309.3 million consensus estimate. The dual miss likely drove the negative reaction. StepStone Group misses Q1 earnings and revenue estimates

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,294. This trade represents a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe bought 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 15.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on STEP. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.88.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.