StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 31.44% and a negative net margin of 30.66%.

StepStone Group Trading Down 1.0%

STEP traded down $0.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,208,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,125,802. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.27. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.49 and a beta of 1.34. StepStone Group has a one year low of $40.58 and a one year high of $77.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on STEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on StepStone Group from $70.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays upped their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 target price on StepStone Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $136,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 14,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 7,645 shares in the last quarter. VARCOV Co. bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 370,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,758,000 after acquiring an additional 74,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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

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.