StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives $45.88 Average PT from Brokerages

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.88.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on StepStone Group from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP opened at $51.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.58 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.29 and a 200 day moving average of $42.65. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $25.06 and a 1-year high of $56.18.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $181.15 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of STEP. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in StepStone Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,994,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,635,000 after purchasing an additional 627,059 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 150.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 850,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,396,000 after buying an additional 510,283 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 991.1% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,378,000 after acquiring an additional 264,811 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in StepStone Group by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,115,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,185,000 after acquiring an additional 225,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in StepStone Group by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 628,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,006,000 after acquiring an additional 136,542 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.