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

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.8750.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STEP. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Monday, July 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

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

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $49.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 43.38% and a negative net margin of 30.53%.The business had revenue of $300.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is -14.51%.

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.