StepStone Group Inc. Announces Variable Dividend of $0.45 (NASDAQ:STEP)

Posted by ABMN Staff on May 26th, 2023

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP – Get Rating) announced a Variable dividend on Wednesday, May 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share on Friday, June 30th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th.

StepStone Group has a dividend payout ratio of 41.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect StepStone Group to earn $1.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.4%.

StepStone Group Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of STEP opened at $21.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.74 and a 200 day moving average of $26.35. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $19.83 and a 12 month high of $32.12.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 24th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $152.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on STEP shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on StepStone Group from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on StepStone Group from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on StepStone Group from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. TheStreet lowered StepStone Group from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on StepStone Group from $26.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David Y. Park sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.52, for a total transaction of $68,448.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,864 shares in the company, valued at $908,761.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 20.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 67.1% during the third quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 5,132.1% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors own 93.82% of the company’s stock.

About StepStone Group

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