Evercore ISI Raises StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target to $48.00

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its target price lifted by Evercore ISI from $41.00 to $48.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on STEP. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $41.25 to $46.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an outperform rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of StepStone Group from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $49.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $40.19.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $48.74 on Monday. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $25.06 and a fifty-two week high of $50.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.16 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.58.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a yield of 1.9%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is 93.33%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,110.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David F. Hoffmeister purchased 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total transaction of $1,219,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. American International Group Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 27,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 10.8% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 288,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 24,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group LP. is an investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.