StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, a growth of 39.1% from the May 15th total of 1,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 422,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

StepStone Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded down $0.47 on Friday, hitting $42.60. The company had a trading volume of 494,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,191. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.33 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.77. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $22.98 and a 1-year high of $46.82.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a yield of 1.9%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently 93.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David F. Hoffmeister acquired 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David F. Hoffmeister acquired 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $44.29 per share, for a total transaction of $996,525.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,994,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,635,000 after acquiring an additional 627,059 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 150.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 850,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,396,000 after purchasing an additional 510,283 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,137,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 210.5% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 518,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,360,000 after purchasing an additional 351,205 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 11.4% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,823,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,175,000 after buying an additional 289,383 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $49.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.79.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.