Royal Bank Of Canada Upgrades StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) to “Moderate Buy”

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada to a “moderate buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on STEP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.56.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $48.92 on Wednesday. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.34 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.72.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released 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). The company had revenue of $300.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.53% and a positive return on equity of 43.38%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,227,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,635,000 after purchasing an additional 504,680 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 16.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,951,000 after acquiring an additional 561,176 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 2.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,317,000 after acquiring an additional 95,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in 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 valued at $141,276,000 after acquiring an additional 3,331,971 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group, Inc is a global investment firm focused on the private markets. The company designs and manages investment programs for institutional investors, family offices, private wealth clients and other organizations seeking access to private-market opportunities.

Its activities include investing in and managing portfolios of private equity, venture capital, private debt, real estate and infrastructure investments. StepStone provides customized portfolios, primary fund investments, secondary-market transactions, co-investments and advisory services across these asset classes.

Founded in 2013, StepStone serves clients through a global network of offices and investment professionals.