StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives $71.88 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.8750.

A number of research analysts recently commented on STEP shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP opened at $39.54 on Tuesday. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $49.87 and a 200-day moving average of $55.32. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of -5.81 and a beta of 1.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -16.47%.

StepStone Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 9th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe purchased 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $4,971,294. This trade represents a 49.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its stake in StepStone Group by 2,285.7% in the third quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC grew its stake in StepStone Group by 17,350.0% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 155.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 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.