StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target Raised to $61.00

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $56.00 to $61.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.19.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $60.68 on Tuesday. StepStone Group has a 1 year low of $25.06 and a 1 year high of $60.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.89 and its 200 day moving average is $44.77. The stock has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.42 and a beta of 1.28.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $186.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.67%.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter worth $111,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the first quarter valued at $149,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at about $206,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the second quarter worth about $266,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the second quarter worth about $303,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.