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

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $46.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. StepStone Group traded as high as $47.24 and last traded at $46.57, with a volume of 22018 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $45.78.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer started coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $41.25 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.07.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David F. Hoffmeister acquired 22,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 9.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,367,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,084,000 after purchasing an additional 525,538 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,179,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,558,000 after purchasing an additional 73,712 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 152,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,828,000 after acquiring an additional 6,898 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 33,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.50 and its 200 day moving average is $37.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.68 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $177.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.47 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that StepStone Group LP will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a 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.