Vestcor Inc Increases Holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 66.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,003 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $1,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of CMS Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $989,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 94,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,267,000 after buying an additional 2,445 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 47,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of CMS Energy by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 78,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,207,000 after buying an additional 6,572 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CMS Energy Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE CMS opened at $72.83 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $69.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. CMS Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $56.61 and a 52 week high of $75.06.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last issued its 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%. On average, analysts predict that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This is a positive change from CMS Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CMS. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of CMS Energy in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded CMS Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on CMS Energy from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Scott B. Mcintosh sold 6,700 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $467,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 21,643 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,815.68. The trade was a 23.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John G. Russell sold 28,750 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.85, for a total value of $1,893,187.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,285.15. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,950 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,720. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.