Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, a decrease of 10.7% from the March 15th total of 1,690,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 164,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Cohen & Steers

In other news, Director Richard P. Simon sold 3,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $219,594.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,573,716.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Edmond D. Villani sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.99, for a total value of $291,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,675.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard P. Simon sold 3,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $219,594.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,573,716.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,000 shares of company stock worth $1,009,713 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 47.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNS. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cohen & Steers by 7.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Cohen & Steers by 83.4% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 16,988 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,459,000 after buying an additional 7,727 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Cohen & Steers by 7.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Cohen & Steers in the first quarter worth $89,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cohen & Steers by 53.0% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,124 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,127,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. 51.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Cohen & Steers from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Cohen & Steers from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th.

Cohen & Steers Price Performance

Shares of CNS opened at $67.51 on Wednesday. Cohen & Steers has a 1 year low of $50.05 and a 1 year high of $78.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97 and a beta of 1.45.

Cohen & Steers (NYSE:CNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The asset manager reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.03. Cohen & Steers had a net margin of 26.36% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The business had revenue of $119.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Cohen & Steers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This is a positive change from Cohen & Steers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Cohen & Steers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.77%.

Cohen & Steers Company Profile

Cohen & Steers, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to institutional investors, including pension funds, endowments, and foundations. It manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, multi-asset, and commodity portfolios through its subsidiaries.