StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $56.71, but opened at $60.40. StepStone Group shares last traded at $59.63, with a volume of 216,482 shares changing hands.
The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.87 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 11.29% and a positive return on equity of 12.04%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share.
StepStone Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. StepStone Group's payout ratio is currently -40.17%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 target price on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.64.
View Our Latest Stock Report on StepStone Group
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $48,016.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 90,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,441,593.26. The trade was a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $54,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,547,091. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Amundi grew its stake in StepStone Group by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in StepStone Group by 444.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.
StepStone Group Trading Up 2.9%
The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.12 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $52.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.82.
About StepStone Group
(
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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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