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

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.8571.

STEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore set a $73.00 price target on StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 target price on StepStone Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Zacks Research downgraded StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

StepStone Group Trading Up 4.1%

NASDAQ STEP opened at $45.09 on Friday. StepStone Group has a 1 year low of $40.07 and a 1 year high of $77.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.32. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 1.39.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is -16.14%.

StepStone Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 967,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,207,000 after purchasing an additional 25,559 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 49.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,836,000 after buying an additional 160,318 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,859,000. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 523,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,222,000 after buying an additional 138,857 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 623,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,748,000 after buying an additional 88,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.