StepStone Group Inc. (STEP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28 on December 15th

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of 0.28 per share on Monday, December 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th.

StepStone Group has a dividend payout ratio of 48.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect StepStone Group to earn $2.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.9%.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP stock opened at $61.14 on Friday. StepStone Group has a one year low of $40.07 and a one year high of $70.38. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of -7.64 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.51.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 18.31% and a negative net margin of 40.06%.The company had revenue of $282.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on StepStone Group from $70.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $64.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.29.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.