Short Interest in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Rises By 39.1%

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, an increase of 39.1% from the May 15th total of 1,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 422,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

StepStone Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of StepStone Group stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.60. The stock had a trading volume of 494,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,460. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.87 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $22.98 and a 12 month high of $46.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.74 and its 200 day moving average is $34.58.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.47 million. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a yield of 1.9%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their target price on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.79.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David F. Hoffmeister bought 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $44.29 per share, for a total transaction of $996,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in StepStone Group in the first quarter valued at $149,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the first quarter valued at about $243,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 10.8% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the third quarter valued at about $365,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $442,000. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

About StepStone Group

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.