StepStone Group's (STEP) "Outperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Oppenheimer

Key Points

• Oppenheimer raised its price target for StepStone Group from $81.00 to $84.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.71% from the previous close.
• StepStone Group reported $0.40 EPS for the latest quarter, missing analyst estimates by $0.02, but showed a significant revenue increase of 95.4% compared to the same period last year.
• Insider activity included CEO Scott W. Hart selling 10,000 shares at an average price of $61.28, resulting in a 14.29% decrease in his ownership stake.

Oppenheimer reiterated their outperform rating on shares of StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $84.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $81.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ STEP traded down $1.02 on Monday, reaching $61.21. The company had a trading volume of 470,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,200. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.87 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $40.07 and a 1-year high of $70.38. The company's fifty day moving average is $58.08 and its 200-day moving average is $56.23.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 16.07% and a negative net margin of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $237.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 95.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from StepStone Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. StepStone Group's payout ratio is currently -31.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.28, for a total value of $612,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,676,800. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $3,375,961.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,550.05. This represents a 61.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 424,444 shares of company stock valued at $25,268,076. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 332.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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