Reviewing Cohen & Steers (NYSE:CNS) and Ares Management (NYSE:ARES)

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) and Cohen & Steers (NYSE:CNS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Ares Management has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cohen & Steers has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Ares Management pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Cohen & Steers pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Ares Management pays out 247.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cohen & Steers pays out 82.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ares Management has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Cohen & Steers has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ares Management and Cohen & Steers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ares Management	0	9	11	1	2.62
Cohen & Steers	1	0	2	0	2.33

Ares Management presently has a consensus price target of $146.21, indicating a potential upside of 14.08%. Cohen & Steers has a consensus price target of $88.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.11%. Given Cohen & Steers’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cohen & Steers is more favorable than Ares Management.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ares Management and Cohen & Steers”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ares Management	$5.60 billion	7.56	$527.36 million	$2.18	58.79
Cohen & Steers	$556.12 million	6.72	$153.22 million	$3.26	22.29

Ares Management has higher revenue and earnings than Cohen & Steers. Cohen & Steers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ares Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ares Management and Cohen & Steers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ares Management	7.51%	25.74%	6.31%
Cohen & Steers	28.16%	27.45%	19.70%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

50.0% of Ares Management shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.5% of Cohen & Steers shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.7% of Ares Management shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 45.4% of Cohen & Steers shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets. Its Direct Lending Group segment provides financing solutions to small-to-medium sized companies. The company's Private Equity Group segment focuses on majority or shared-control investments primarily in under-capitalized companies. Its Real Estate Group segment invests in new developments and the repositioning of assets, with a focus on control or majority-control investments; and originates and invests in a range of self-originated financing opportunities for middle-market owners and operators of commercial real estate. The firm was previously known as Ares Management, L.P. Ares Management Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Ares Management GP LLC is the general partner of the company.

About Cohen & Steers

Cohen & Steers, Inc. is a holding company, which operates as an investment manager specializing in liquid real assets, which include real estate securities, listed infrastructure, commodities, natural resource equities, preferred securities, and other income solutions. It manages investment vehicles, such as institutional accounts, open-end funds and closed-end funds. The company was founded by Martin Cohen and Robert Hamilton Steers in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, NY.