StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $41.25 to $46.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. StepStone Group traded as high as $46.85 and last traded at $46.49, with a volume of 33713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.06.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on STEP. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on StepStone Group in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $49.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,110.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David F. Hoffmeister purchased 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at $2,030,829.37. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in StepStone Group by 150.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 850,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,396,000 after buying an additional 510,283 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 288,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth approximately $243,000. American International Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 27,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 19.1% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 51.42 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.43.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $162.47 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that StepStone Group LP will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.33%.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group LP. is an investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.