StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target Lowered to $58.00 at BMO Capital Markets

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its price objective cut by BMO Capital Markets from $70.00 to $58.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on STEP. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.57.

StepStone Group Price Performance

StepStone Group stock opened at $47.34 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.59. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $40.07 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of -6.82 and a beta of 1.39.

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

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -16.14%.

StepStone Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 967,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,207,000 after purchasing an additional 25,559 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the third quarter worth about $50,859,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 49.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,836,000 after buying an additional 160,318 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 16.6% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 623,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,748,000 after buying an additional 88,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 36.1% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 523,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,222,000 after buying an additional 138,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

About StepStone Group

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.