StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $69.00

Shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.44.

A number of research firms have recently commented on STEP. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 8.8% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in StepStone Group by 2.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Finally, Essential Partners LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 17,350.0% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP stock opened at $45.27 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of -5.86 and a beta of 1.29. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.