StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock Jumps 5.1% – Should You Buy?

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) shares were up 5.1% during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $43.19 and last traded at $43.4350. 16,698 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 99% from the average daily volume of 1,236,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $61.00 target price on StepStone Group in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.22.

StepStone Group Trading Down 1.4%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.48 and a 200 day moving average of $47.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 1.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 43.38% and a negative net margin of 30.53%. The business had revenue of $300.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 1,697 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 1,078,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,614,000 after buying an additional 222,950 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 314,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,009,000 after buying an additional 33,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 42,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 13,274 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group, Inc is a global investment firm focused on private markets. The company provides investment solutions and advisory services designed to help institutional and private wealth clients build diversified portfolios of alternative investments.

Its platform spans private equity, venture capital, private debt, infrastructure and real estate. StepStone invests through primary commitments to funds, secondary-market transactions and direct or co-investments, and also offers customized portfolios and separately managed investment solutions.

StepStone serves pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, family offices and private wealth investors across North America, Europe, Asia and other international markets.