Share Repurchase Plan Initiated by StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP)

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 9th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Barclays raised shares of StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $73.00 price objective on StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.86.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

StepStone Group stock opened at $45.25 on Tuesday. StepStone Group has a 1 year low of $40.07 and a 1 year high of $77.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.80. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.52 and a beta of 1.39.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. StepStone Group’s revenue was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently -16.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 117,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.20, for a total value of $7,800,875.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 306,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,258,921.20. This trade represents a 27.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $725,200.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 212,052 shares of company stock worth $14,096,290. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm that provides specialized investment solutions across private equity, private credit and real assets. The firm offers customized portfolios, secondary interests, direct co-investments and tailored advisory services to institutional investors worldwide. StepStone’s integrated research and data analytics platform supports its investment teams in sourcing opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies.

Founded in 2007 as an independent private markets specialist, the company has grown its presence through both organic expansion and strategic partnerships.