Junto Capital Management LP Grows Stock Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Junto Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 26.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,078,672 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 222,950 shares during the quarter. Junto Capital Management LP’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $44,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in StepStone Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,227,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,635,000 after acquiring an additional 504,680 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,439,000 after purchasing an additional 724,201 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,951,000 after purchasing an additional 561,176 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 2.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,317,000 after purchasing an additional 95,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 3,976.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,415,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,276,000 after purchasing an additional 3,331,971 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $49.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.47 and a beta of 1.29. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.53% and a positive return on equity of 43.38%. The firm had revenue of $300.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. Analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Monday, July 20th. 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. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.56.

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.