StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $38.85 and last traded at $39.2610, with a volume of 964163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.88.

StepStone Group Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.44 and a 200 day moving average of $54.49. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.05 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is -16.47%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $4,860,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,294. This represents a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe purchased 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 16.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in StepStone Group by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,229,000 after purchasing an additional 728,410 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,227,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,635,000 after buying an additional 504,680 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,439,000 after buying an additional 724,201 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,951,000 after buying an additional 561,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,317,000 after buying an additional 95,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.