StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.44.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on STEP shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Essential Partners LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 17,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter worth $119,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 8.8% in the 1st 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. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group during the first quarter valued at about $468,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Down 2.2%

STEP stock opened at $44.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of -5.72 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. StepStone Group has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.98 and its 200-day moving average is $47.76.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $300.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.32 million. Sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This is a positive change from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.