StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Short Interest Update

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,500,000 shares, an increase of 25.0% from the August 15th total of 2,000,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 571,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 571,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up previously from $81.00) on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $614,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,000. The trade was a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 1,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total transaction of $63,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,392,985.20. This trade represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,893,360. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 368.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the second quarter worth approximately $2,161,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the second quarter worth approximately $2,779,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 7.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 224,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,486,000 after buying an additional 15,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 535.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 7,421 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $64.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.05 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.22. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $237.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.99 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 16.07% and a negative net margin of 17.10%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -36.36%.

About StepStone Group

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.