StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Coverage Initiated at UBS Group

Equities researchers at UBS Group started coverage on shares of StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 27.52% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on STEP. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $70.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $67.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP stock opened at $47.05 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.77. StepStone Group has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $77.79. The company has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of -6.78 and a beta of 1.32.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $241.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 31.44% and a negative net margin of 30.66%.The business’s revenue was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 9th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 2.7% in 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 bought a new position in StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter worth $50,859,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in StepStone Group by 49.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,836,000 after buying an additional 160,318 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 16.6% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 623,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,748,000 after buying an additional 88,794 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 36.1% in 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 last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.