JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target to $61.00

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its target price increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $56.00 to $61.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

STEP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.19.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP opened at $59.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.89 and its 200-day moving average is $44.77. StepStone Group has a one year low of $25.06 and a one year high of $60.00. The company has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 66.36 and a beta of 1.28.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $186.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.15 million. StepStone Group’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $111,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the first quarter worth $149,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at $206,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the first quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $266,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group LP. 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, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.