Cohen & Steers (CNS) May AUM Improves, Net Inflows Recorded

Cohen & Steers (NYSE:CNS) reported preliminary assets under management (AUM) of $59.3 billion as of May 31, 2018, up 1.3% from $58.5 billion reported in the prior month. Market appreciation of $988 million and net inflows of $52 million were primarily responsible for this improvement.

The company recorded total institutional accounts of $27.9 billion at the end of May, up 1.5% sequentially. Of the total institutional accounts, advisory accounts were $11.8 billion as of May 31 while the remaining were subadvisory accounts.

Cohen & Steers recorded $22.5 billion in open-end funds, which rose 1.4% from the $22.2 billion witnessed in the previous month. Also, close-end funds came in at $9 billion, up slightly from the prior-month figure of $8.9 billion.

Competitive Landscape

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) has announced preliminary AUM by its subsidiaries of $732.8 billion for May. Results display slight growth from $732.5 billion recorded as of Apr 30. The rise was primarily attributable to the acquisition of Edinburgh Partners Limited, partially offset by net market declines and net outflows experienced during the month.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) reported preliminary month-end AUM of $977.3 billion for May. The figure reflects a slight increase from the prior month. The rise was mainly driven by favorable market returns, non-management fee earning AUM inflows, higher money market AUM and net long-term inflows.

Our Viewpoint

With operations at a global level, Cohen & Steers benefits greatly from well diversified AUM. The company’s widespread product offerings and investment strategies will continue to attract investors, in turn, supporting revenue growth. However, mounting expenses mainly due to its continuous expansion efforts, might deter bottom-line growth to some extent.

Shares of the company have gained around 4.3% over the last six months, outperforming 0.8% growth recorded by the industry.

Cohen & Steers currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

A better-ranked stock to consider in the same space is Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Its Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has increased nearly 2.8%, in the last 30 days. The company’s share price has jumped more than 37% in the past year.

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