Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 1,600 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 192,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in CMS Energy were worth $11,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in CMS Energy by 320.9% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,305,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $250,026,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282,697 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in CMS Energy by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,662,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,367,483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,071 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $111,004,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in CMS Energy by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,208,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $360,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in CMS Energy by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,456,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,731,000 after acquiring an additional 883,180 shares in the last quarter. 93.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CMS shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CMS Energy from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

Insider Activity at CMS Energy

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,098,433.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brian F. Rich sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.10, for a total value of $122,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 97,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,968,370.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 1,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $99,986.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 68,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,098,433.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,027 shares of company stock valued at $365,651 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

CMS Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:CMS traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.96. 1,609,165 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,826,400. CMS Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $49.87 and a 12-month high of $64.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.38.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. CMS Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. CMS Energy’s payout ratio is 62.80%.

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.