Key Points
- Insider buying: StepStone Group insider Michael Mccabe bought 120,000 shares at an average price of $41.85, spending about $5.0 million. The purchase increased his ownership by 38.32% to 433,178 shares.
- Company results and shareholder returns: StepStone recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue expectations, and the board authorized a $100 million share repurchase plan. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, equal to a 2.6% yield.
- Wall Street view: Analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus on STEP, with an average price target of $71.88. The stock was trading near $42.52, well below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) insider Michael Mccabe purchased 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.
StepStone Group Price Performance
Shares of STEP stock opened at $42.52 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $50.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.25 and a beta of 1.29. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.58 and a one year high of $77.79.
StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The business had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. StepStone Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.
StepStone Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 9th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
StepStone Group Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. StepStone Group's payout ratio is presently -16.47%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 65.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $373,774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257,880 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the third quarter valued at about $50,859,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,229,000 after purchasing an additional 728,410 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 320.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,972,000 after purchasing an additional 571,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
STEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered StepStone Group from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.88.
View Our Latest Report on StepStone Group
StepStone Group Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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