AGF Management Ltd. Raises Position in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $3,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMS. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in CMS Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.57% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CMS opened at $71.17 on Thursday. CMS Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $56.61 and a 1 year high of $75.06. The stock has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.81 and a 200 day moving average of $68.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This is a boost from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMS. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of CMS Energy in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised shares of CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.42.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,093.60. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.22, for a total transaction of $134,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,248,102.34. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,817,160 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy 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.