StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) to Issue $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 5th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th.

StepStone Group has a dividend payout ratio of 43.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect StepStone Group to earn $2.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.7%.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of STEP stock opened at $66.73 on Wednesday. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $25.06 and a 12 month high of $70.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.10. The company has a market cap of $7.68 billion, a PE ratio of 111.22 and a beta of 1.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This trade represents a 25.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total value of $204,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,381,320.71. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About StepStone Group

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