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Cohen & Steers (CNS) Hikes Dividend: Is the Stock Worth Buying?

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Cohen & Steers (CNS - Free Report) has announced a dividend hike yet again. The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 45 cents per share, marking a 15.4% increase from the prior payout. The dividend will be paid out on Mar 18, to shareholders of record as of Mar 8.

Considering last day’s closing price of $63.78, Cohen & Steers’ dividend yield currently stands at 2.8%. This yield is not only attractive to income investors but also represents a steady income stream. Also, it is impressive as compared with the industry average of 1.36%.

The company has been increasing its dividend annually since 2011.  Additionally, the asset manager has been paying special dividend. In November 2020, it had announced $1 per share as special dividend.

While it seems that Cohen & Steers stock is an attractive investment option right now based on the dividend income, investors interested in this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock can take a look at the company’s fundamentals and growth prospects to properly understand the rewards and risks.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The company’s total revenues (GAAP basis) witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% over the last five years (ended 2020). This increase was mainly driven by solid asset under management (AUM) balance, which saw a CAGR of 7.4% during the same time frame. The AUM balance is expected to continue growing as the market improves and this will, thus, aid the top line.

Over the last three-five years, Cohen & Steers saw earnings growth of 10.8%. The momentum is expected to continue in the near-term. The company’s earnings are projected to grow at a rate of 23.4% and 7.9% for 2021 and 2022, respectively. Moreover, the company has a four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.93%, on average.

Cohen & Steers’ ROE of 58.29% compares favorably with the industry’s 12.41%, highlighting the company’s competitive edge over its peers.

Over the past six months, shares of Cohen & Steers have risen 3.5%, underperforming the industry’s 27.1% .Moreover, the company’s earnings estimates have shown a favorable trend. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has moved 11.8% and 5% upward for 2021 and 2022, respectively, over the past 30 days.

Therefore, based on the above-mentioned factors it seems that Cohen & Steers stock is worth investing. Nevertheless, continuously mounting expenses might hurt the company’s bottom-line growth to some extent. So, one must consider this adverse factor before taking any decision.

Other Finance Stocks Taking Similar Actions

In the current year, several finance stocks have announced dividend hikes. Some of these companies include Bank OZK (OZK - Free Report) , T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW - Free Report) and Washington Federal (WAFD - Free Report) . Bank OZK announced a quarterly cash dividend of 27.75 cents per share, representing an increase of 0.91% from the prior payout. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.’s board of directors recently approved a 20% hike in the company’s quarterly common stock dividend and Washington Federal announced a 4.5% increase in its cash dividend 23 cents per share.

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