CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) Stake Lessened by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lessened its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 233,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,262 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $15,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 32.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 3.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,675 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in CMS Energy in the third quarter worth $5,153,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 174,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,350,000 after acquiring an additional 4,432 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CMS Energy by 6.4% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $74.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.59. CMS Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $56.61 and a fifty-two week high of $74.19. The stock has a market cap of $22.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. Equities analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 65.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CMS Energy news, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total transaction of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,285.15. This represents a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total transaction of $134,440.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,102.34. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,950 shares of company stock worth $2,669,620. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CMS. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.69.

CMS Energy Company Profile

CMS Energy Corporation operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility; Gas Utility; and Enterprises. The Electric Utility segment is involved in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. This segment generates electricity through coal, wind, gas, renewable energy, oil, and nuclear sources.