StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• StepStone Group Inc. experienced a significant increase in short interest, rising 25% to 2.5 million shares as of August 31st.
• Insider sales included CFO David Y. Park selling 1,000 shares and CEO Scott W. Hart selling 10,000 shares, reflecting notable decreases in their stock ownership.
• The firm recently boosted its quarterly dividend from $0.24 to $0.28, with a current yield of 1.9%.

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,500,000 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the August 15th total of 2,000,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 571,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 571,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $64.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,891,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,111. StepStone Group has a twelve month low of $40.07 and a twelve month high of $70.38. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.05 and a beta of 1.37. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $60.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.22.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 95.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from StepStone Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. StepStone Group's payout ratio is presently -36.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on STEP shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up previously from $81.00) on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research cut StepStone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised StepStone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.86.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, CFO David Y. Park sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total transaction of $63,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,392,985.20. This represents a 4.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $614,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,072,000. This trade represents a 16.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,893,360. 16.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 77.4% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 14,413 shares of the company's stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,289 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 42.8% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,527 shares of the company's stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 269.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,962,826 shares of the company's stock worth $154,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,558 shares of the company's stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during 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.