StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• The consensus recommendation for StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) from analysts is a "Hold", with five hold ratings and three buy ratings, and an average target price of $64.00.
• Insider trading activity includes a significant sale by Michael I. McCabe of 67,718 shares, which represents a 13.78% decrease in ownership.
• StepStone Group has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, representing a yield of 1.8% and reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on STEP. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 67,718 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.54, for a total transaction of $3,828,775.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 423,864 shares in the company, valued at $23,965,270.56. This represents a 13.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.28, for a total transaction of $612,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,676,800. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,718 shares of company stock worth $5,044,476. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at about $2,779,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 224,974 shares of the company's stock worth $12,486,000 after buying an additional 15,746 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 535.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,808 shares of the company's stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 7,421 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 23,629 shares of the company's stock worth $1,311,000 after buying an additional 8,513 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,111,135 shares of the company's stock worth $61,668,000 after buying an additional 16,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP stock opened at $62.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.34 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.97. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $40.07 and a 1-year high of $70.38.

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

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

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

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.

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