Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 10,200 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 76.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,528 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on STEP. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.88.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $53.74 on Tuesday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.58 and a 1-year high of $77.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of -7.90 and a beta of 1.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The business had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.47%.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.