StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.69.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STEP. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $61.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.67 and a beta of 1.28. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $25.06 and a 1-year high of $62.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.22.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $186.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.15 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in StepStone Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 18,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 2,452 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in StepStone Group by 442.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 10,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.