StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $282.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 18.31% and a negative net margin of 40.06%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS.

StepStone Group Stock Down 1.8%

STEP traded down $1.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.14. 1,354,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 554,842. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.29 and its 200 day moving average is $59.51. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $40.07 and a 12 month high of $70.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of -7.64 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently -36.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on STEP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.29.

Insider Activity

In other StepStone Group news, CFO David Y. Park sold 1,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $63,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,985.20. The trade was a 4.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $614,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,000. This trade represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,968,060. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 368.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at about $2,779,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 224,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,486,000 after purchasing an additional 15,746 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 535.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 7,421 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 23,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 8,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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