CNS · Financials(investment advice) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
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Cohen & Steers, Inc. reported revenue of $556.1 million in fiscal 2025, after growing 5.3% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin narrowed from 38.7% in 2016 to 32.0%. Of the $935.2 million its operations generated over 10 years, 133.3% went to dividends and 19.7% to buybacks; the share count rose 11.0%. On the accounting screens, it passes 1 of 6 Piotroski tests; 2 of the six cross-checks between its statements fire.
Revenue, fiscal 2025556.1M+5.3% a year over 9 years
Operating margin32.0%gross margin —
Return on invested capital—
Free cash flow after stock pay-172.4M-31.0% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA—net debt —
Piotroski F-score1/6tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
0200.0M400.0M600.0M
2016Revenue 349.9MOperating income 135.5M
2017Revenue 378.7MOperating income 154.7M
2018Revenue 381.1MOperating income 147.0M
2019Revenue 410.8MOperating income 160.1M
2020Revenue 427.5MOperating income 95.1M
2021Revenue 583.8MOperating income 260.4M
2022Revenue 566.9MOperating income 215.9M
2023Revenue 489.6MOperating income 164.5M
2024Revenue 517.4MOperating income 172.9M
2025Revenue 556.1MOperating income 177.7M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-0.6%
+5.4%
+5.3%
Operating income
-6.3%
+13.3%
+3.1%
Net income
-3.6%
+14.9%
+5.7%
Earnings per share
-5.0%
+13.6%
+4.5%
Dividend per share
+4.2%
-0.4%
+5.5%
Shares
+1.5%
+1.1%
+1.2%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow
-40.0%-20.0%0.0%20.0%40.0%60.0%
2016Operating 38.7%Net 26.6%Free cash flow 29.9%
2017Operating 40.9%Net 24.3%Free cash flow 16.1%
2018Operating 38.6%Net 29.9%Free cash flow 18.1%
2019Operating 39.0%Net 32.8%Free cash flow 33.8%
2020Operating 22.2%Net 17.9%Free cash flow 20.3%
2021Operating 44.6%Net 36.2%Free cash flow 41.1%
2022Operating 38.1%Net 30.2%Free cash flow 10.1%
2023Operating 33.6%Net 26.4%Free cash flow 23.5%
2024Operating 33.4%Net 29.2%Free cash flow 16.4%
2025Operating 32.0%Net 27.6%Free cash flow -22.7%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Return on invested capital
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Needs a cost of capital, which comes from the valuation below.
Return on equity
27.3%
Return on assets
17.5%
Asset turnover
0.63×
Overheads (SG&A)
12.8% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
-200.0M0200.0M400.0M
2016Net income 92.9MFree cash flow 104.8MAfter stock-based pay 82.7M
2017Net income 91.9MFree cash flow 61.0MAfter stock-based pay 38.7M
2018Net income 113.9MFree cash flow 69.1MAfter stock-based pay 44.5M
2019Net income 134.6MFree cash flow 138.7MAfter stock-based pay 110.9M
2020Net income 76.6MFree cash flow 86.7MAfter stock-based pay 57.3M
2021Net income 211.4MFree cash flow 240.2MAfter stock-based pay 199.7M
2022Net income 171.0MFree cash flow 57.5MAfter stock-based pay 8.1M
2023Net income 129.0MFree cash flow 115.0MAfter stock-based pay 70.5M
2024Net income 151.3MFree cash flow 85.0MAfter stock-based pay 32.7M
2025Net income 153.2MFree cash flow -126.4MAfter stock-based pay -172.4M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
935.2M generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 11%103.7M
Acquisitions 0%0
Dividends 133%1.2B
Share buybacks 20%184.6M
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -64%-599.7M
Over the same years it paid 358.8M in stock. The share count rose 11.0%. The buybacks did not even cover what was handed out in stock.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$-4.00$-2.00$0.00$2.00$4.00$6.00
2016Earnings per share $2.00Free cash flow per share $2.26Dividend per share $1.53
2017Earnings per share $1.96Free cash flow per share $1.30Dividend per share $2.09
2018Earnings per share $2.40Free cash flow per share $1.46Dividend per share $3.78
2019Earnings per share $2.79Free cash flow per share $2.87Dividend per share $3.37
2020Earnings per share $1.57Free cash flow per share $1.78Dividend per share $2.52
2021Earnings per share $4.31Free cash flow per share $4.89Dividend per share $3.01
2022Earnings per share $3.47Free cash flow per share $1.17Dividend per share $2.18
2023Earnings per share $2.60Free cash flow per share $2.32Dividend per share $2.27
2024Earnings per share $2.97Free cash flow per share $1.67Dividend per share $2.34
2025Earnings per share $2.97Free cash flow per share $-2.45Dividend per share $2.46
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
46.0M48.0M50.0M52.0M
2016Diluted shares 46.4M
2017Diluted shares 47.0M
2018Diluted shares 47.4M
2019Diluted shares 48.3M
2020Diluted shares 48.7M
2021Diluted shares 49.1M
2022Diluted shares 49.3M
2023Diluted shares 49.6M
2024Diluted shares 50.9M
2025Diluted shares 51.5M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
—
Interest coverage
— operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
— current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 52d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
1of 6 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✕Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zerofailed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✕Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)failed
–Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fell — not reportedno data
–More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✕No new sharesShare count did not growfailed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
The accounts lack a line it needs (retained earnings, current assets or liabilities).
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
The accounts lack too many of the lines it needs.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Reported profit comfortably exceeds the cash generated (153M against -120M).
Benign
Growth consuming working capital, or the seasonality of the year-end.
Worrying
Profit held up by accounting entries that do not turn into money.
Capital spending (6M) is well below depreciation (10M).
Benign
Mature assets, or a business that has become less capital-intensive.
Worrying
Under-investing: today's profit is being held up by consuming tomorrow's capacity.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$17.30discounted at 10.2% a year · 50% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
5.8×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
4.8×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
1.6×
Free cash flow yield
-19.3%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today448.0M
Everything after, today443.3M
The whole business891.3M
Minus net debt-0
What belongs to shareholders891.3M
Divided among 51.5M shares: <strong>$17.30</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
-200.0M-100.0M0100.0M200.0M
2016Reported 82.7M
2017Reported 38.7M
2018Reported 44.5M
2019Reported 110.9M
2020Reported 57.3M
2021Reported 199.7M
2022Reported 8.1M
2023Reported 70.5M
2024Reported 32.7M
2025Reported -172.4M
2026Projected 62.3M
2027Projected 65.5M
2028Projected 68.7M
2029Projected 71.8M
2030Projected 74.8M
2031Projected 77.6M
2032Projected 80.4M
2033Projected 82.9M
2034Projected 85.3M
2035Projected 87.4M
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
586.7M
617.0M
646.8M
675.9M
704.1M
731.1M
756.7M
780.7M
802.8M
822.8M
Growth
5.5%
5.2%
4.8%
4.5%
4.2%
3.8%
3.5%
3.2%
2.8%
2.5%
Cash margin
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
Free cash flow
62.3M
65.5M
68.7M
71.8M
74.8M
77.6M
80.4M
82.9M
85.3M
87.4M
Worth today
56.6M
54.0M
51.4M
48.7M
46.1M
43.4M
40.8M
38.2M
35.7M
33.2M
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
18
19
20
21
23
9.7%
17
18
19
20
21
10.2%
16
16
17
18
19
10.7%
15
16
16
17
18
11.2%
14
15
15
16
17
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
1.5%
3.5%
5.5%
7.5%
9.5%
8.5%
13
14
15
16
17
9.6%
14
15
16
17
19
10.6%
15
16
17
19
20
11.7%
16
17
19
20
22
12.7%
17
18
20
22
23
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$12.92
Median$17.35
90th percentile$23.62
$20.00$30.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$14.78</b> and <b>$20.27</b>; one in ten below $12.92, one in ten above $23.62.
Does the long run make sense?
4.2×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 4.2 times that year's EBITDA.
4%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 58% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 4% on the new capital.
50%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.67% × (1 − 21.0%) = <strong>5.27%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.17%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 6 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market—none in the period
Under pre-arranged plans—of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.